Backstory
by SixNewAdventures
Summary: Post-Invasion. Cassie and Diana had a falling out and she gave up being Wonder Girl. About a week later, a new Wonder Girl joins the Team. But why does Dick have a weird feeling about her? And why would the Court of Owls set their sights on someone who isn't even an assassin?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, so my previous attempt at making another character failed horribly, so I'm just gonna have another go at it. Hope this attempt is better than the previous one, since I had to create a darker back story. (See what I did there?)**

**Okay, so in this AU, 3 years after the Reach invasion, Cassie has a falling out with Diana and refuses to use the name "Wonder Girl" anymore, so the mantle is taken up by my OC. Wally was trapped in the speed force instead of being dead like in my previous stories, and in this particular story, they've already got him back and he's now the new Flash with Bart as Kid Flash. If you guys want me to, I can make a short side story about **_**how**_** exactly they got Wally back. **

**And yeah I have to update my other stories too, but I'm on a writing spree. To keep this idea from floating away, I had to write it down. And this was the outcome.**

**I hope you guys like this story in general.**

* * *

Chapter 1

* * *

Darkness.

That's all he can see, hear or feel. He's a bat, so normally he's accustomed to it. He leans into the shadows, but this time, the shadows don't envelop him and protect him like they usually do. Instead, they just seem to scare him. He gets the feeling that these shadows aren't friendly and if he goes into them, they won't let him go.

He steps out of them as the fear clouds his mind and he acts on impulse. He doesn't know why, but he feels really cold right now.

He looks up and is stunned by what he sees. There is a huge ring with a stage built around it. He instinctively knows that he's backstage. Blank banners hang from the ceiling and a spotlight shines on a small platform in the center of the stage. But the entire place is empty and there's not a soul around. He also has no doubts about where he is. He doesn't need a sign to tell him that he's at Haly's Circus; the circus where he grew up. It was also the circus where he lost his parents.

But his parents weren't all that Dick Grayson lost that day.

* * *

His eyes snap open at once. He looks around to see himself in his bed, safe. He heaves a deep breath and gets out of bed and walks to the kitchen, intent on getting himself a glass of water. It isn't much, he knows that, but it at least offers him a bit of relief. Still, he knows inside that no drink, alcoholic or non-alcoholic, is gonna stop the guilt from pricking at his heart, just as it is doing now. And to make things worse, he has no idea why he's feeling guilty. The whole issue with faking Artemis's death was put behind everybody two years ago when they managed to bring Wally back from the Speed Force. Everybody forgave him when they saw how much he was doing to bring the redheaded speedster back and no one's even mentioned that incident since.

_That's not why you're feeling guilty._

He hates the voice in his head for saying so because it is absolutely true. He had convinced himself over the years that it wasn't his fault at all when he knew all the time that it was. He managed to escape it for a few years, but then the nightmares started again, reminding him that he should have done _something_.

"Up late again?" A feminine voice says from behind him.

Dick turns around to see a raven-haired woman standing by the door. She's wearing nothing but his shirt that is too big for her, but still makes her look beautiful. Her blue eyes are trained on his. For one second, he thinks that he can see concern in her eyes, because this wouldn't be the first time that he's woken up at 2 AM for a glass of water. It wouldn't also be the first time he's had that nightmare. But it was never this intense that he's been waking up every night for the past two weeks.

He swallows a gulp. "I was thirsty." He says.

"Yeah, you're also up at 2 AM, sweating as if you've been through hell and back." She walks up to him and lifts her head to meet his eyes. He doesn't know why, but it makes him smirk.

"I kind of have." He points out.

"Joker doesn't count." She says, snaking her arms around his neck. He places his glass of water on the kitchen island and has his hands on her hips in no time. "Now, Richard Grayson, talk to me."

He considers how to tell her about his nightmares. He knows that she's worried about him, so he almost lies to her by telling her that he's been restless lately. Okay, that's not entirely a lie. He _has_ been very restless. But if he tells her about his dreams, he wonders if she'll understand him at all. Sure she knows about his past, but he never told anyone about the ultimate treasure that he lost. Except, maybe Bruce. But Bruce didn't count as he already knew. He decided to lie to her, but the look in her eyes makes him reconsider. "Dick, you need to talk to me." she tells him, looking into his blue eyes, trying to get him to trust her. "You can trust me, you know that, right?"

He heaves a breath. "I trust you, Zee." He says softly.

"Then talk to me."

He knows that there's no use hiding it. "I've been having nightmares." As expected, he can see worry increase in her eyes. "About what?" Zatanna asks. "About my past life. In the circus." He replies. She sighs. "You still feel guilty about that?" he nods. "Dick, it wasn't your fault. You were too young to know anything." She comforts him, pressing a small kiss to his cheek. "Anyway, that was a long time ago. Look how you turned out now. I'd say you have a really great life." He nods in agreement. "You're right, Zee. My life did turn out okay." He goes through all the great events in his life; meeting Bruce, becoming Robin, meeting Wally, Kaldur and Roy, forming the Team, meeting Zatanna and starting a relationship with her, leading the expanded Team, getting reunited with Wally; his life was pretty great now that he thought about it.

Except nothing would ever make up for the mistake he made.

* * *

Fighting alongside Wonder Woman has _always_ been a dream of hers for as long as she can remember. The various criminals she fights, the rush of the adventure; well she's always wanted that.

She's now in her home, waiting for Diana to come back. It's only been two months since she left Themyscira after completing her training. Normally the Amazons didn't complete their training till they were much, much older, but apparently a fast learner. She was told a lot of things about man's world, but it wasn't as bad as she thought. It definitely wasn't bad once she met Diana's protégé, Cassie. Cassie became like a big sister to her, even after her falling out with Diana. Now all she's waiting for is to get out there and see what the world really is like.

"Skylar? Are you home?" Diana closes the door and walks to her room.

Skylar puts her book down and comes out of her room just as Diana drops her handbag on the bed. "Hey, Diana." She greets the older woman. "Nice to see you too." The Amazonian princess says. "But tonight I am exhausted, so I'd prefer if you'd leave all the talking for tomorrow."

"Actually, there…" the young girl says.

"Is it urgent?" Diana asks.

"Kinda." Skylar shyly answers. "I was wondering that since I, you know…turned fourteen a month ago and I'm ready, if you'll let me go to high school?"

Diana looks at the young girl. "High school?" she asks. "Don't you think that's a bit overboard?"

"I know I've been homeschooled all my life, but I wanna know what a school really feels like." She admits.

The older woman sighs and stands in front of the raven-haired girl. "I'm trying to do all I can for you, little one. It took me a while to convince my mother to let you come here." She then notices the disappointed expression on the girl's face. "How much does this actually mean to you?"

"A lot." Skylar says.

Diana nods. "Let me see what I can do."

The girl sighs in happiness. "Thanks a lot, Diana." She hugs the princess and then goes into her room. For a second, Diana thinks about how full of energy young Skylar is. _Just like Cassie…_A surge of anger bursts through her mind at the thought of her former protégé.

She still can't believe what happened. The princess and the Demigod had a huge fight only three days ago. Of course she'd still be fuming over it. But what she still finds unbelievable is that Cassie quit being Wonder Girl. Now even on the Team she prefers being called just "Cassie". She doesn't know when, but ever since Donna decided to be her protégé, Diana always feels empty when she doesn't have a young girl fighting beside her, bearing the two Ws. She wonders if this is what Bruce was feeling when he took Tim in four years ago.

She wonders why she can't get another sidekick. And mess up this time too.

Her mind goes to Skylar at once, but then she tells herself that Skylar wouldn't want anything to do with crime fighting. She can't also. Bringing her here took a lot of convincing, and now she'll be going to high school as well.

But when is the right time to tell her that this was her birthplace?

* * *

**A/N: Hope you guys liked it. Any suggestions on why Cassie and Diana had a falling out will be greatly appreciated (since I have no idea either).**

**Read and review^^**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to lindz4567 for reviewing on the last chapter. Hope I get a couple more reviews this chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 2

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay?" Tim's voice snaps Dick out of his thoughts.

"Hm?"

"You okay, Dick?" Tim asks again. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Dick quickly shakes the thought out of his head. "Am I _that_ noticeable?"

Tim shakes his head. "No, but I can tell." He grins. "I am your brother, after all."

Dick laughs along. Tim's really changed over the last three years. He's definitely not the insecure and unconfident fourteen-year-old Dick remembers. He's now a young man of seventeen, and puberty was good on him too, just as it was on Dick. He's still wearing his Robin costume, but he's really grown into his looks now. He's taller too, almost up to Dick's shoulder. He also began to work out more when he was going through his growth spurt. In all, Tim has grown from a boy into a man.

Tim looks at Dick. "Okay, what's bothering you?"

Dick sighs. "It's just…nothing."

Tim looks like he's about to argue with the older man, but right then, a voice calls out to him. "Hey, Nightwing! I was wondering if I could get the day off today!"

Both guys look back to see Cassie, the _former_ Wonder Girl. She's walking over to them, hints of anger still in her face. Who could blame her? It had only been five days since she and Diana got into this huge fight and anyone can tell that neither of them is over it yet. At times, even Dick forgets and almost calls her "Wonder Girl" before quickly correcting himself. Once, Tim had made that mistake and she refused to talk to him for two whole days. Honestly, Dick's a bit surprised how Cassie and Tim were together for this long, but he's happy for them.

So, he nods, figuring that she needs a day with her boyfriend to relax and put the whole thing behind her. "Sure, Cass. Tim'll even go with you."

"Tim?"

Tim waves, and Dick notes how fast a blush appears on Cassie's face. "Hey, Cass."

Dick smirks. "I'll leave you two lovebirds together. Have fun on your day off." They nod and he turns around to go to the kitchen. He looks back just in time to watch Cassie slip her arms around Tim's neck and crash his lips on hers when they both thought no one was looking. It puts a small smile on his face.

* * *

Diana knocks two of the thugs over the head. She rubs her hands when they fall to the ground. "That's what you get for trying to do something as stupid as try and rob a bank."

A scuffling sound makes Diana whip around and see what was wrong. Her eyes widen as she catches sight of one of the thugs making off with a bag full of money. She wonders how he got there when she realizes that there were three, and all this time she had been taking care of only two. Getting on her feet, she flies after him as fast as she can, but he's got too much of a head start. She silently curses for not looking over her shoulder.

He turns into a dark alleyway, making Diana stop as it is too dark to see inside. She lands at the entrance to the darkness. She tries to go inside, but she finds that she's hesitant to go into the shadows. She looks up to see that the guy has disappeared. She stomps her heel into the ground, angry at herself. Suddenly, a scuffling sound and a thud are heard. Diana goes in to investigate and is met with a really amusing sight. The robber is unconscious and tied up with a golden rope. As Diana smirks, the bag he was trying to rob in thrown at her feet. She lifts her eyes to see a young teenage girl in the shadows.

"Good work." Diana smiles.

"You didn't get him, so I thought I'd get him for you." The girl replies.

"Keep it up and I'll find myself in _your_ shadow." Diana grins.

The girl steps out of the shadows, her blue eyes twinkling in the moonlight. "I'll have to try very hard for _that_ to happen."

* * *

The bell rings, signaling the start of school. Kids start filling into their respective homerooms.

Out of them, a particular raven-haired girl walks into her homeroom, feeling nervous. She hugs her books to her chest, hoping that no one would stare at her. She turns around and walks backwards for a few seconds, marveling at the school. She's always wanted to go to high school, but she never expected it to be this huge and amazing. Unfortunately, before she can turn around, she bumps into somebody. She turns around to see a tall blonde girl with her mouth open.

"Watch it!" she says.

"Sorry, I wasn't seeing where I was going." The raven-haired girl says, tucking her hair behind her ear nervously.

"Well, next time, you better start seeing, newbie." The blond girl says rudely.

As the black-haired girl thinks of something to say, she thinks that she can hear someone coming up behind her. At the same time, a voice also begins talking behind her. "Hey, leave the new girl alone." When she turns around, there's a boy who looked around her age. He had fiery red hair and bright green eyes. He was staring at the blond girl and her friends in a defensive way. The blond girl sighs forcefully and walks away, grumbling.

The black-haired girl turns to the boy and smiles. "Thanks for helping out."

"Don't mention it." He replies. "Lindsey's like that to all the new kids."

"Who is she anyway?" She asks. "She acted like she owned the school."

"Maybe because she thinks she does." He replies. "Her father's on the school board. So she can basically do anything she wants."

"That's just unfair." She says.

"Believe me, it is. But no one tries to do anything." He sighs. "Anyway, I'm guessing you've never been to high school before."

"No," she answers, "I was homeschooled."

He holds out his hand. "Well then, welcome to Keystone High. I'm Alex. Alex West."

"Skylar. Skylar Summers." She shakes his hand. "Nice meeting you."

"You two." He smiles. "Hey, if you want, I can show you around." He offers.

"I'd like that." She smiles at him gratefully, feeling happy with herself at making a new friend on her first day of school.

* * *

"…and then she thinks that I have a crush on her." Alex says, trying not to crack up. But the girl beside him wasn't so lucky.

"Oh my _god_!" Skylar laughs, tears almost coming out of her eyes from laughing so hard. "I still can't believe you freaked out."

"What'd you expect me to do?" he laughs. "She was pushing me into the cupboard."

She shakes her head, wiping her eyes. "You're really crazy, you know that?" she asks him. He shrugs. "So I've been told multiple times." She slings her bag over her shoulder as both teenagers walk out of school. He stops her for a second.

"Hey, by the way, where do you live?" he asks.

"Oh, about ten minutes from here." She replies. "How about you?"

"Fifteen minutes." He replies. "Hey, maybe I could walk you home. Would you be alright with that?"

"Sure, that's nice of you." She smiles.

He grins at her. "You know, Skylar, you're not like the other girls at school."

"And why would you say that?" she asks.

"Because you're the first girl I've met who doesn't have a crush on me." They both laugh.

* * *

She opens the door and goes inside, trying to close it as silently as she can. She knows Diana's at home today, because she wanted to be there when Skylar got home. Right now, she has no idea whether Diana is asleep or awake.

She walks into the living room and sees Diana on the couch, watching TV. The older woman looks up when she enters and smiles on seeing her. "So, how was school?"

She drops her bag beside Diana. "It was simply amazing!" she says excitedly. "The place is simply huge, the classes are really exciting and I made a new friend."

"Oh, that 'new friend' wouldn't be that young man you were walking home with, would it?" Diana asks.

"That's just Alex." Skylar says. "He actually defended me from a really mean girl who thinks she owns the school just because her father is on the school board."

"He did?" Diana asks, a little skeptically. Skylar sighs.

"Alex's been here in Keystone practically since he was born." She explains. "That's why he knew exactly what to say to defend me. It's not like I'll be hiding behind him at all."

"That's all I wanted to know." Diana says. "But there's another thing."

"Cassie's mad at me?" Skylar asks. "_Oh god_, I knew this would happen!"

"Skylar! Calm down!" Diana says quickly. "She's not mad at you, just at me. She actually called while you were at school today. She thinks it's time."

"Already?" Skylar asks, surprised. "It's barely been three days…"

"I know." Diana says in a firm voice. "But Cassie thinks it's time."

"It's time for Wonder Girl to join the Team."

* * *

**A/N: Pretty small chapter, I know, but next chapter'll be longer, I promise. **

**You guys'll probably already know who Alex is. His and Skylar's relationship is up for interpretation. Are they just good friends, or is there something more? And how do you guys like the characters? Remember, if Skylar and Alex are disliked, they will be killed off later in the story.**

**So, please review.**

**Peace out!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

* * *

Cassie ducks as Tim throws a punch at her. She narrows her eyes, using whatever he taught her over the years to analyze his every move. She didn't even need to use her powers (not that she wants to). Cassie looks into his eyes, trying to intimidate him, but finds herself melting in his light blue eyes. She tries to cover it up, but unfortunately, he notices.

"Getting lost in my eyes?" he smirks.

"Don't get used to it." She remarks, trying to ignore the way his muscles showed through his grey t-shirt.

"Still think you can win this bet?" he grins.

"Think? I'm taking you down." She says.

He smirks at her, his eyes flicking to hers and Dick who's standing near the sparring mat, evaluating them both. Out of the corner of her eye, she thinks that she sees Dick laughing softly at their small argument. She turns her attention back to Tim, waiting for his next move. When he doesn't make one, she decides to strike. She throws a punch at his face, but unfortunately she forgets _who_ he is and is surprised when he grabs her arm and flips her.

"Ready to admit it now?" he asks just as she lands square on her back and the computer announces her failure.

"Of course I'm not." She says, taking Tim's held out hand and pulling her to her feet. "I may be seventeen now, but I'm still the same proud fourteen-year-old you met three years ago."

"You're also the same fourteen-year-old who I fell in love with." Tim says placing a small kiss on her lips. "Wanna go again?"

"You bet!" she says, walking over to the mat. But before she can get there, Dick comes forward, looking at his cell phone.

"Actually, Cassie, you and Tim better get changed. Diana just texted me; she's bringing over her new protégé to meet the Team. I want you two in full costume by then." He says.

"Wait, Diana has a new protégé?" Tim asks, surprised.

"Yeah, she does." Cassie tells him. "But it's okay. She doesn't have any rule over me now, so she can do whatever she wants."

"I'm a bit surprised myself." Dick admits. "But hopefully Diana's new protégé is nice and fits in well." Tim nods.

After telling Tim that she'll be changing and kissing his cheek, Cassie grabs her bag and heads for her room at the new Cave that was rebuilt a year after the Reach invasion. Working side by side with the Justice League had been an amazing experience for all of them, but they all realized that they missed the Cave too much. The Watchtower was cool, but the Cave had been the Team's base for over 8 years. So, they had the Cave rebuilt (with a few tweaks here and there) just the way it was. She really prefers it like this. Ever since the Reach invasion and the Bats revealing their identities to the entire Team and not concealing their faces anymore, the Cave has really been more lively than usual.

When she comes out dressed in her red sleeveless full body spandex, Tim's already changed into his Robin suit. She goes over and stands beside him, her hands folded over her chest. He leans over near her ear and whispers to her. "You're not nervous, are you? Because if I remember, you've already met this girl." She smiles at him to reassure him. He looks up just as Dick walks up to them, rubbing the back of his neck. They go about their regular business.

About five minutes after they settle down, the zeta beam begins to glow and it announces Wonder Woman's arrival. The Amazonian princess steps out of the beam and Cassie looks down, avoiding her gaze. Diana also tries to ignore Cassie as she turns and quickly types something down on the keypad beside the beam. The beam glows again, announcing the arrival of "Wonder Girl". When the glow dies down, there's a young black-haired girl there.

She walks forward very nervously. Cassie smiles at her comfortingly. She's wearing a red top like Cassie used to wear, except it wasn't a turtleneck top and had yellow stripes around the sleeves. The yellow Ws on her chest remind Cassie of her early Wonder Girl days. Along with the red top, she's wearing a pair of light blue skinny jeans and a pair of red and blue shoes. The top is a bit short so that it exposes a thin line of her midriff. Instead of the traditional star earrings, she's wearing gold loop earrings and she's wearing the same silver bracelets that Cassie used to wear.

Diana steps forward. "Wonder Girl, this is the Team." She makes the introductions. "Team, this is my protégé, the new Wonder Girl."

Tim walks forward, holding out his hand. "Hey there, I'm Robin, that's Nightwing, and I suppose you already know Cassie." He gestures to all of them in turn. But as he looks at her, Cassie knows that he's staring at her. The young girl looks up and Cassie suddenly wonders why she seems familiar. She passes it off as nostalgia, but then Dick stiffens up.

He walks forward a bit, his masked gaze never leaving Wonder Girl's face. "Have we met?"

* * *

"And this is the living room." Tim waves his hand in front of him. "This is where the Team usually hangs out and relaxes. It's also where we fight over who's gonna buy pizza on pizza night."

They all laugh because it's true. But honestly, Dick's just glad that Wonder Girl didn't take his earlier slip-up to heart. He doesn't even know what happened back there. He just had been looking at her, but then he had experienced a huge wave of nostalgia overcome him. The way she formed words, walked and laughed all reminded him of someone. And then there were her eyes. They were a striking cerulean blue that caught the sight of any passerby. The thing was, he knew those eyes from somewhere.

Diana had left when Tim proposed on giving Wonder Girl a tour of the Cave. Dick suspects that the teenager still has a soft spot for the name. Well whatever, she seemed to be getting along well with him too. Cassie acted like a big sister to the new Wonder Girl and had a protective arm around her shoulders. Dick himself had stayed quiet for most of the time, embarrassed, and would only talk about once in a while. Anyway, after showing Wonder Girl her new room at the Cave, they changed into civvies and were taking her on a tour.

Tim walks over to the fridge and opens it. "Hey, you thirsty?" he asks Wonder Girl. He grabs a can of soda and passes it to her, throwing a can to Cassie and Dick. "So, you trust us enough to tell us your secret identity?" he jokes. Cassie elbows him in the ribs, making them laugh once more. "Don't pressure her!"

Wonder Girl grins. "Its okay, Cassie. It's Skylar Summers."

"Nice name." Tim says. "I'm Tim Drake and that's Dick Grayson. You'll meet the rest of them Team when they get back from their mission. It's just the three of us right now."

Dick opens his mouth to say something but the wind suddenly whizzes in his ears and a blur passes by him. By the time he regains himself, there's a young teenager standing beside the fridge. "Hey, you guys know what happened to the ice-cream? I'm bored out of my mind and I just ran all over Happy Harbor. I need to eat something cold or else I'm gonna pass out." He turns around and stops, staring at Skylar in awe.

"Skylar?"

"Alex?"

* * *

"You're the new member of the Team?" Alex West asks.

She nods. "Yep, and the new Wonder Girl." She grins. "And what are you?"

He smiles. "The new Impulse since my cousin Bart became the new Kid Flash." He tells her.

"Wait, hold up." Dick comes forward. "You two know each other?"

Both of them nod. "We go to the same high school in Keystone." Alex explains. Dick nods and then looks at an alert on his communicator. "Good thing, then." The man says. "Then, Alex, can you complete giving Skylar a tour of the Cave? We're needed somewhere."

"I'll get changed in a second." Alex says, prepping himself up for speeding off, but Dick stops him.

"You've only been on the Team for a month." He says. "You're not ready for a threat like this."

"What exactly is the threat?" Skylar steps forward, her voice on the brink of irritation at being left out barely ten minutes coming to the Cave.

Dick sighs. "The Court of Owls." He says. "They're an organization of really advanced assassins. They're highly dangerous, and don't really attack at a time like this. That's why, you two, our newest recruits, need more training to face off against them." Alex folds his hand over his chest and grumbles under his breath. Skylar quickly shoots him a look when Dick looks at him with an eyebrow raised. Dick turns to Tim and Cassie. "Suit up. We've gotta go."

* * *

"Bad luck, dude." Alex tells her. "A mission on your first day at the Cave and you can't even join in."

Skylar grins. Sighing, she pierces a fork into her piece of pie. "It's alright. I understand we're pretty inexperienced. I've only been Wonder Girl for about three to four days."

He puts down his fork and stares at her. "Three to four days?" he asks. "And they allowed you on the Team? I wasn't even allowed on the Team until I had at least a month of experience!"

She shrugs. "I guess I'm a fast learner."

"Well, I guess we could take advantage of this." He softly says.

She narrows her eyes. "Advantage of what?"

"I mean, we're alone. There's no one around for miles." He explains.

"I still don't get it." She says.

He turns his head up and laughs. She shakes her head, trying to figure out what the redhead meant, and her eyes widen once she realizes what he means. "Oh no, if you think…"

"I just thought it might be time for us to get to know each other better." He cuts in, laughing. "I mean, we go to the same school together _and_ we're on the same superhero team. I thought, maybe we'd be able to tell each other some super secretive stuff."

She scoffs as well as kicks herself mentally for reading too much into it. Alex was just trying to be friendly. Why did she think that he might have meant something else? "What, you think I'm just gonna tell you all about myself. We only met two days ago."

"Don't forget I saved your life." He cuts in through a mouthful of pie, pointing his fork at her. She shakes her head and laughs, putting her empty plate in the sink. "You're hopeless."

"Don't I know it." He grins.

"So, are you ever gonna tell me _anything_?"

"Don't keep your hopes up." She tells him, placing away the glasses she had taken out for lemonade.

"Come on, Skylar." He says. "At least tell me how you got your powers."

She chuckles. "Are you really that desperate?" she asks. He nods. "Yeah, pretty much."

"That'd explain why you don't have a girlfriend." Skylar says, making both of them laugh.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, first a shout out to lindz4567 for reviewing on every single one of my chapters till now. Second, it doesn't look like this story isn't going t be good. I'm seeing a huge lack of reviewers to this story, and when they don't usually matter too much, they actually make me feel like writing. So, please review, or I don't know what I'll have to do (I may take down this story too).**

**Third, the next chapter will reveal some of Skylar and Alex's backgrounds. I'm not sure how much, but it will be revealed. Now, I've gotta work on the second chapter for "Maybe It's Not Too Late" and find some inspiration to finish "Don't Look Back".**

**Once again, please review.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: (Insert something here)**

**I have no idea what to say. So, enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 4

* * *

He never expected to be in this position in the middle of the day.

He's backed up against a wall, sweat dripping down his forehead. The escrima sticks in his hand feel extremely slippery through his gloves. Added to the pounding in his ears, he's bleeding in so many places he's surprised he hasn't fainted from blood loss. Behind his mask, his eyes quickly see behind the assassin in front of him. This guy is actually trained enough to defeat Cassie _and_ Tim together. But then again, the Court of Owls has always surprised him.

He drops the escrima stick in his right hand as his hand shoots to his chest where a really deep cut was administered at that moment. He presses his back against the wall and slides down to his knees, panting for breath. The assassin turns the blade to face him.

"I could kill all three of you right now," he says in a deep brooding voice, "But you are not my targets. I have some _other work_ to tend to." Saying so, he back flips into the shadows and is gone in a second.

Dick places a gloved hand over the deep wound. Thankfully, he hears Tim and Cassie stirring beside him. He stares after where the assassin disappeared. This wouldn't be the first time a Court of Owls assassin almost fatally wounded him, but what has his attention is the assassin's parting words.

What is that other work?

"We can't go in like this." Dick quickly whispers.

Tim looks up from under his shoulder. "Why?"

"Skylar and Alex are still in the Cave." Dick explains. "They'll freak when they see us like this. Especially Skylar. It's her first day, and I'm not sure she's ready for this yet."

"You're really compassionate about Skylar, aren't you?" Cassie asks from underneath his other arm. His eyes widen behind his mask.

"What makes you say so?" he awkwardly asks.

"You seemed really awkward around her today, and now you're talking about her like you've known her your whole life." Cassie explains.

"Did you two meet somewhere?" Tim asks.

Cassie shakes her head. "She only came here about a week ago. And all the time Diana's been keeping an eye on her, she's been crime-fighting or at school. She couldn't have met Dick anywhere." She says.

"What do you say, Dick?" Tim asks, tilting his head to look at his brother. "Dick?"

Dick wasn't even listening. Instead, he was in a sort of trance, staring at the abandoned photo booth in front of him. After a few moments, he shakes his head, and narrows his eyes behind his mask.

"We're going to the Batcave. We'll text Alex and let him know that we won't be coming back to the Cave today."

* * *

"Okay, you've seen the library, the gym and the rooms." Alex says. "Now can we please set up a prank?"

Skylar raises her head from behind her book about Greek Mythology. "You're a pranker?"

He nods. "Best one yet." He says.

She puts the book down. "So, how are you even related to the original Kid Flash anyway?"

"He's my cousin." He explains. "My dad's brother's son."

"And how did you get your powers?" she asks, putting her elbows on the table and her chin on her crossed palms. He looks up at her, surprised.

"I thought you didn't want to know about that!" he exclaims.

She shrugs with a small smirk on her face. "I never said I never wanted to know about it." She laughs. "I said I didn't want to know about that _yet_. But now seems like a good time."

She chuckles as he struggles to find words to yell at her. At the end, he gives up. "You have your way, don't you?" he grins.

She smiles. "I have my moments."

"Oh well," he shrugs his shoulders, "Wally got his powers by trying to duplicate Uncle Barry's speed formula. But I got mine in a slightly different way."

"How?"

"It was actually a lab accident. They were trying to harvest the formula that turns people to speedsters, and they found it too. But it actually blew the place up. Unfortunately for me, I was skateboarding right past the lab when it blew up, and I got a whole body full of the formula. It instantly turned me into a speedster. And here I am."

"It's actually pretty funny when you think about it." Skylar points out. "I mean, you weren't even trying to do anything, and now you're a superhero. Who would've thought?"

"You know, you're not like the other Amazonians we had around here." He says. She raises an eyebrow. "You were here for a _month_."

"I know." He says. "But Wonder Woman did once or twice bring a couple of her 'Amazonian sisters' with her. Man that was a bad day."

"I don't blame ya." She says. "The Amazonians have extreme dislikes towards boys, and men. Diana's an exception, and maybe Donna."

"Donna Troy? Troia?" he asks. She nods. "Yeah, Donna's pretty cool. She came by once. And that was an unforgettable day. She showed me this really cool move. Took me thirty tries."

"Wow, that's the longest I've ever heard." She says.

"Still, Diana's a little wary of us guys, but you're really cool." He says. "It doesn't even seem like you're an Amazon."

She looks at him. "Well, you'd be the first person who thought that."

He narrows his eyes slightly. "Why?"

"Back in Themyscira, I was the only one who thought that men weren't useless. I was also the only one who wondered what it would be like having a father, or a brother." She says, lowering her eyes. "The other girls always thought I was weird for wondering that. They thought that the world would be great without males in it. I guess I knew better, and that set me apart from the others. It's also one of the reasons I decided to come here. So I could get a taste of what living with both genders in it."

"Wow, that's pretty deep." He softly says. He suddenly gets a text and checks his phone and grumbles when he sees it. "What is it, Alex?" she asks. "Dick just texted me." Alex grumbles. "They're not coming back here today. So, I guess it's just us."

"Bummer." She says.

He slides onto the armchair beside the couch. "Sorry you couldn't do anything cool today." He apologizes. "On my first day, Nightwing put me through a _huge_ workout routine. Got so tired I was actually _looking_ forward to the day ending."

"It's okay." She says. "I actually prefer that my first day doesn't have much to do. I thought you'd know how I crumble under a huge work load from my first day."

"I should've, right?" he asks.

"So, anyway, do you know why they're not coming here?" she suddenly asks.

He shakes his head. "Dick said _nothing_."

* * *

"So, how was your first day at the Cave?" Diana asks.

Skylar looks up from her book. "Oh, it was okay, I guess." She says. "It was pretty mellow. The Court of Owls, whoever they are, apparently attacked Bludhaven, so Nightwing, Cassie and Robin needed to go and take care of that. So, for most of the day I was just pretty much stuck with Alex. Around four or so, Superboy, Miss Martian and Blue Beetle came in, followed by Kid Flash. The day was actually pretty cool."

"No pressure on your first day, that's good." Diana comments. "And by the way, Skylar, we need to start looking for a foster family to take care of you. If we don't, social services are gonna take you away."

"Remind me once again why _you_ can't adopt me and get it over with?" Skylar asks.

"You do not want to live with me, Skylar. I have too much of a responsibility on my shoulders. It'll be impossible to raise you without help. A family might do better." Diana says.

"I'm fourteen, Diana." Skylar stands up. "Who'd want to adopt a teenager? They always go for the cuter and younger babies."

"And how do you know that?" Diana crosses her arms, even though she knows that the young girl is right.

"I actually visited a centre once." Skylar says. "There were a few kids around my age. They were totally ignored."

"But you know you can't give up, right?" Diana asks.

"I know," Skylar says, lowering her voice. "But, what's the use of trying when you know you're gonna fail?"

Diana sighs. "That is something you'll just have to figure out by yourself."

Skylar considers that for a few minutes. "What on earth does _that_ mean?"

Skylar may be strangely mature for her age right now, but she was still a teenager, as Diana was now discovering. All the training she went through back at Themyscira, didn't go to waste since she retained her early maturity, but at times would act like a confused teenager. It was at these moments when Diana would realize how naïve she actually was. It had been one of the main reasons that she convinced her mother to let Skylar off the island as she had too much potential in her.

Now to see whether she'd be good at juggling school and "work".

* * *

**A/N: Okay, now how many of you actually want this story to continue? It's been four chapters, but not as good a feedback as I hoped. So, it's all up to you guys now. If you don't want this story to continue, I'll wrap it up in the next three or four chapters, but otherwise I'll keep it up to its original length and maybe make it better.**

**So, five yes's and this story goes on, otherwise, I'll take it down here.**

**Your feedback means a lot to me, guys. So, to keep me writing, please review.**

**-SixNewAdventures**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry about the late update, guys. I had to be the script-writer for a play at school, and my keyboard also got spoilt at the last moment. Also, who else saw Despicable Me 2 and thought that Gru acted a lot like their father? Honestly, I thought the movie was amazing. And the minions never disappoint.**

**Anyways, here's chapter 5. Hope you guys like it.**

* * *

Chapter 5

* * *

The day went extremely quickly for her. Her head's still ringing with all the stuff they did in class that day. In fact, she was so worn out, she was actually glad when the last bell rang. She honestly spent no time getting out of class. She's on her way out of the door when she hears her name being called out behind her. She turns around to see Alex running up to her.

"Skylar, slow down." He pants, even though she knows that's faked. She also knows that if he wanted to, he could've caught up with her before she could even put her right foot in front of her left. He bends over, pretending to take heaving breaths. It seriously makes her chuckle.

"Is that really necessary?"

"Um, yeah." He gestures to the crowds of teenagers spilling out of the school. That's all that's needs to be said for her to understand that if he showed even a bit of speed, his identity would be cracked before you knew it. Shaking his head, he straightens up.

"So, anyways," he begins, "you coming to the Cave today?"

"Of course I am." She says. "Nightwing's starting my training today, remember?"

"Oh yeah." He says, as if suddenly remembering. "Well, since we don't have to go there until four-thirty, wanna come over to the mall sometime? I'll introduce you to my buds."

"Sure, if Diana'll let me, that is." She says. "I'm surprised you haven't introduced me to your friends yet."

"Well, I had to know you a bit more before you could be part of my gang." He grins. She rolls her eyes.

"Idiot." She makes sure she says it loud enough for him to hear.

* * *

"So, Diana." She starts.

The raven-haired woman looks up from the magazine she was reading, her face set in a grim line at how stupid her fellow women could be, offering themselves to men in such a hurry. "What is it?"

"Well, Alex asked me to come over to the mall," Skylar says, deciding her words carefully, "He's gonna introduce me to his friends. So, I can, right?"

Diana cocks an eyebrow. "No way, child."

Skylar's eyes widen in astonishment. "What? Why?"

"You have your first training session with Nightwing today," Diana explains, "And you have a lot of homework. By the time you finish them, it'll already be time for you to go. Also, we don't want you tired for your first day. Nightwing's going to go harder on you so you know what it feels like."

"Fine." Skylar sighs. "I'll just go and finish my homework." She turns around and takes her phone out of her pocket, dialing a number that she already knew by heart. "So, did it work?" The anxious voice on the other side of the line makes her heart drop at telling the redheaded speedster that she'd have to cancel. He was really excited about her meeting with all his friends and so was she. She sadly shakes her head. "Nope." She says. "Diana's making me stay home to finish my homework."

"She does know that you can finish it at any time, right?" he asks.

"Still, she doesn't want me 'tired for my first day.'" She makes air quotes with her fingers, even though she knows Alex can't see them.

"Bummer." He says. "So, I guess I'll see you at training?"

"Guess so, Alex."

* * *

He uses his escrima sticks to avoid Kaldur's water jets. Spinning them in front of himself, he uses them as a makeshift shield. Then, using advantage of the situation, he ducks under and swipes his leg at Kaldur's feet, making him lose his balance. As the Atlantean hits the ground, Dick stands up as the computer announces Kaldur's defeat. From the ground, Kaldur grins.

"Still the best, I see." He says.

"Trained by the Bat." Dick simply answers, helping Kaldur to his feet. "Those things never go away."

Kaldur nods. He raises an eyebrow as Dick checks his watch. "What is wrong, my friend?" he asks.

"I told the newest recruits to be here at four-thirty." Dick explains. "It's almost time."

"This would not be considering young Skylar, would it?" Kaldur asks. He shrugs when Dick gives him a questioning glance. "Tim and Cassie told me how you seemed protective of her."

Dick looks at the ground. "She's the newest addition to the Team." He says. "I'm protective of _all_ new additions."

"I am aware of that." Kaldur says. "They also told me about your little slip-up."

Dick nervously scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know what came over me, Kaldur. I just had this feeling that I knew her from _somewhere_. I just don't know where."

"Could it be that she reminds you of someone close to you?" Kaldur suggests.

Dick nods. "Maybe, but I just don't know who."

Before Kaldur can offer some more advice, the zeta beams light up and announce the arrival of Wonder Girl and Impulse. Dick straightens up, quickly running a hand through his hair. "And it begins." He whispers.

* * *

"Okay, Wonder Girl, since it's your second day, we'll start off with some basic defense moves." He explains to the young girl. "Impulse, you start working out at the rings to improve your upper body strength."

"I'm okay with that." Skylar shrugs. Alex, on the other hand, wasn't as optimistic.

"But…" he begins but Dick shoots him a glance to remind him of his latest mission and how he screwed up because of his weak upper body strength. Looking down, the redhead moves over to the rings and begins to pull himself up. Thinking for a moment how much he reminded him of Wally, Dick turns to Skylar and gets into a fighting stance.

"We'll start it slow." He explains. "You need to learn how to rely on your natural strength, not only your powers. So, try to defend yourself without using _any_ of your powers." She nods and gets into a similar stance, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Since they were doing defense, he would be the one who would attack her. His eyes quickly analyze her, finding out her every weakness and strength. At that moment, he learns that she's a bit insecure about her abilities. He springs forward, throwing a punch at her face. "Move to your left." He yells at her. Before the punch hits her face, she ducks to the left side, but not fast enough as her ears catch the blow.

"Wow, not bad for a first timer." He praises her, giving her his hand. "You need to work on your reflexes more. You're good, but you'll need to improve a bit more."

She nods as she gets to her feet. "Try it again." Dick says.

They spend the next couple of hours working on her reflexes. They do some good work, if he can say so himself. By the end of training time, Skylar's reflexes are much faster. He's happy to say that he's proud of her. Diana was right about her; she was a very quick learner. The only thing she was faltering at was endurance; by the end of an hour she had been sweating and panting heavily while he hadn't even broken a sweat. The other thing he noticed was that she had excellent control over her powers. He wonders whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Okay, we've done enough training for now." He says, removing the gloves from his hands. "Take a break, Skylar. But be back in half an hour."

Breathlessly nodding, the raven-haired teenager walks over to the bench where she had put her stuff beside Alex's things. Alex leaves the rings and walks over to his stuff, trying to catch his breath. As she grabs a bottle of water, he puts his hand on his knees, bends over and heaves a few breaths. She rolls her eyes at him, although she wasn't in a better state. Dick makes a mental note to work on her stamina and endurance. She's gonna need it if she wants to continue as Wonder Girl.

* * *

By the time Skylar gets home, she's so tired that she doesn't even bother to change. The only thing she does is throw her bag on the bed and flop down face-first onto the sheets. When Diana gets home, she's a bit startled by the sight of the fourteen-year-old in a t-shirt, half-sleeved sweatshirt and sweatpants lying on the bed. Shaking her head, the older woman pulls the young girl out of the bed.

Out of the bed, Skylar gives a huge groan and runs a hand through her hair. "Couldn't you have left me for just one day?" she groans. "I'm _exhausted_."

"You can go back to sleep once you change out of those sweaty clothes." Diana says. "And after you take a shower. I will not have you sleeping on that bed smelling like something out of a garbage can."

Skylar grumbles for a couple of moments before walking towards the bathroom attached to her room, unbuttoning her sweatshirt and slipping it over her head. After a few minutes, Diana hears the water running and smiles a satisfied smile to herself. Honestly, raising a teenager was harder than it looked, especially one that had been put through Nightwing's crash course in crime-fighting.

* * *

When Skylar gets out of the shower, Diana's nowhere to be found. Shrugging, she starts rubbing her jet-black hair dry when her eye catches something on the window sill. She knows she pulled the curtains closed before she went in, so why are they open now? And what's that piece of paper taped to it?

She feels her stomach churn with nervousness. Carefully, she moves over to the window and opens it, pushing her strength into her fists in case of an emergency. She finds the piece of paper taped outside. She takes it out, noting that something seems scribbled onto it. It's also in a handwriting she doesn't recognize. As she turns it over to see what's written, she can literally feel her blood freeze inside her. Her blue eyes scan the four words again and again as her heart fill with dread.

She suddenly hears the door open and crumples up the paper, throwing it away and closes the window quickly. She has it shut just in time for Diana to walk through the door and smile at her young protégé.

"Hey, kiddo." The older woman smiles.

"Diana, I thought you weren't gonna be home for a while." Skylar stammers.

"Oh, the mission got over quickly. Those smugglers were in a pretty cold sweat once they saw were coming to stop them." Diana grins.

Skylar laughs along with her mentor. Diana then looks at Skylar. "You look beat. You should get some sleep. You'll need it."

Skylar nods. "Sure, Diana."

It isn't long before she gets into bed. But, she's in for troubled dreams since she simply can't get those four words out of her mind:

_We're coming for you._

* * *

**A/N: I'm betting you guys can already guess who sent her the message. And I hope you liked the chapter. I'd love to hear your views.**

**I'll continue to write if I get at least three reviews per chapter. **

**Please review if you want the story to keep on going.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry for not updating for a while. Well, here's the next chapter. **

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 6

* * *

"Skylar? Skylar, can you hear me?"

Shaking her head, she looks up to see Nightwing staring at her. She can't help but blush as she knows she let her imagination get the best of her. She probably zoned out, in front of _Nightwing_ too. She mentally face-palmed herself as she can feel his blue gaze on her.

"Are you alright?" he asks her.

She nods. "Yeah, Nightwing. I'm fine."

"Then why aren't you here?" he asks in this tone that practically makes her want to spill. "Is something on your mind?"

She swallows before sheepishly nodding. "I…guess. Just stuff. School, training, just…stuff." She says in a low voice, not knowing how to describe it.

He nods. She can feel the sympathetic look he's giving her, even thorough the domino mask. He gives a small sigh. "That's enough training for today. Good work, Skylar."

She mentally thanks him as she begins to walk towards the locker rooms. Before she goes in, she throws a glance behind her back to see what Nightwing is doing. She watches as he slowly pulls the domino mask from his face, rubbing his bright blue eyes tiredly. As he opens his eyes, she feels a familiar jolt pass through her body. She has no idea why, but something about her leader just…well, just seems…so…she can't describe it. It's like she should be here, training with him, hanging with him, and basically, being with him.

She doesn't know why she feels this way, because she's never experienced it with Nightwing, only with Dick Grayson. She knows that she enjoys him teaching him. She enjoys listening to his voice, watching him encourage her to put out her best, and hearing him taunt her after they're all done. Smiling, she opens the door and walks into the locker room.

She's been here for a week, and she's beginning to love it. This whole hero thing, might just work out.

* * *

He exhaustedly runs a hand through his raven locks. He can tell that Skylar's just gone inside. He had been very well aware that she had been watching him for a couple of seconds before. All of his training would have been for nothing if he couldn't feel the soft blue eyes on him.

He doesn't know the reason, but he definitely noticed her becoming sloppy today. She's been constantly drifting away while he taught which seems extremely strange to him since, as her teacher for the past week, he's noticed that she's a very attentive girl. There's something on her mind, and judging by the look of fear that crossed her eyes a second before he snapped her out of her daze, it was something big. He contemplates sneaking around to find out, but a part of him tells him not to poke his nose. It was probably something like a lot of homework or an important test that was taking her attention away. He trusts her to tell him when she's ready.

Until then, all he decides to do is wait and see.

"What's up with her?" he hears a voice behind him. He turns his head to see Artemis standing there, looking towards the locker room.

"No idea." He answers. "Probably something big, judging by the looks of it."

"You want me to get M'gann to read her mind?" Artemis suggests. "We'll find out the problem within no time."

"NO!" He's surprised by the intensity of his own voice. He takes a deep breath. "It's probably nothing as well. And anyway, she's _my_ student, and I trust her to come to me when she needs my help. I will _not_ force information out of her."

Artemis looks at him for a few seconds. "You really care about her." She observes.

He shrugs. "She's the newest in the Team." He explains.

"But that doesn't explain why you took on the responsibility to train her yourself."

"Someone had to."

Artemis shakes her head. "Why are you denying it?" she asks. "You two have some sort of special connection."

He turns to look at the door to the girls' locker room. "Well, maybe there is."

* * *

She takes to the den to relax. Nightwing gave her the rest of the day off for some reason. Well, she's not gonna ask. She can hardly remember the last time she ever got time to just kick back and _relax_. And as much as she loves training with her leader, she has to admit that leaning back on the couch and reading a book sounds really good too.

Hearing something, she turns around to find a familiar redhead laying a huge beach ball on the counter. She chuckles.

"Alex, what are you doing?" she asks.

"What does it look like?" he replies. "I'm pulling out my beach ball."

"Why on earth would you need a beach ball?" she asks, slightly confused.

"Don't you know?" he asks, and then presses his palm to his forehead. "Oh, I forgot you were the new kid. Every month around this time, the Team has a tradition for a beach day."

"Beach day?" she coughs out.

"Yeah, it's when we all just head down to the beach and just chill out." He explains.

"And that's tomorrow?" she clarifies.

He nods. "Remember to bring some soda. We're seriously out."

* * *

"So, what _was_ on your mind during training?"

She almost jumps and almost spits out her cookie before awkwardly swallowing it. She looks up and glares at Tim who was sitting opposite her, his elbows on the table and a playful smirk on his face. She takes a gulp of her orange juice and wipes her mouth on her sleeve. He chuckles a bit and she almost has to resist the urge to use that new move that Nightwing taught her to flip this guy and get him on his back. But he probably knows the move and it would just be wasting her time on nothing.

"It's your fault that I almost choked, you know." She growls at him.

He chuckles. "Dick says I get that from him." He jokes. "And I'm aware that we're not genetically related at all."

She rolls her eyes, picking up another cookie and biting into it. He leans forward a bit. "So, what was on your mind then?" Tim asks. "You seemed a bit, distracted."

She shakes her head a bit. "Nothing much, Tim." She quickly says.

"Really?" he asks again. "Because you kept zoning out."

"Was I that noticeable?" she shyly asks, images forming in her head about herself standing staring at a spot while Nightwing did his best to teach her.

Luckily, he shakes his head. "Not really. But I noticed you." He explains. He nervously rubs the back of his neck. "I've sorta been told to keep an eye on you."

"Really? By whom?" she sarcastically asks.

"Dick." He reluctantly admits. He notices her widened eyes. "He just told me to help you out because you're new around here."

"He did?" She's a bit surprised by this side of him. She never thought that Dick would tell Tim to take care of her. She never imagined that he would even care about her like that.

"He really cares about you, Skylar." Tim softly tells her. "He won't show it, or he'll deny it when asked, but he looks at you in a special way. You're special to him."

"Special?" she asks, her voice lowering as her eyes start to fill with emotion.

Tim nods. "Trust me. Not even his many ex-girlfriends have that luxury."

She looks down. "I never knew that about Dick." She admits. Somehow, hearing about all his ex-girlfriends just reminds her about all that the things that Diana said about him. She described him as a womanizer, a player, a monster who just broke hearts left and rights. But training with him over the past week had showed her that Diana was wrong about her assumption of him. He wasn't a monster like she said, but a kind soul. He was really good with many things, but she believed that he was just lost and confused when it came to the topic of girls. He was an amazing teacher, and amazing leader, and above all, was an amazing person at heart.

Tim nods. "He believes a lot in you, you know that?" he tells her. "I think in some part of his mind, he sees you as a good replacement for him."

"Me? _Nightwing's_ replacement? That's impossible." She says. "I'm nothing like him. He's so…experienced and I'm…just…me."

"I wouldn't believe that if I were you." Tim grins. "You're a very fast learner, you know that?"

He gets up and walks away. She unknowingly bites her lower lip, thinking over what Tim had just told her. Did Nightwing really think of her as his possible successor? Was that the only reason he decided to teach her? Or was there something else? Something she was missing.

But, as she closes her eyes, the only image that comes to her mind is of the scrap of paper with those four words.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you liked this chapter guys. All relationships are up for interpretation for the moment. I just want to see what you guys would think about this. And I'm working on the sixth chapter for "Don't Look Back", although it might be some time to be up as I finally got some inspiration to write this story. It won't be long before I find the inspiration to finish that story, as well as a few one-shots in between.**

**And guys, check out my one-shot "Not Alone" if you're a fan of my universe revolving around "Never Be The Same." I'm also coming up with a humorous one-shot for "Backstory."**

**Please review, guys.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Okay, I can s****ee that not many of you guys like Alex much. I can see why. And just to clarify, he's not a main character. The protagonist in this story is Skylar, and it follows her adventures. I only created Alex to give her a friend her own age. Originally, I planned to make her friends with Bart and Jaime, but since this story takes place three years after the events of Invasion, they would probably be around seventeen or eighteen. I figured that they might be a bit matured for Skylar and the story's plot had me make her at least fourteen years. So, that sparked the creation of Alex.**

**But remember guys, based on the reviews, I can always kill him off in the finale.**

**Enjoy this next chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 7

* * *

She makes it to the Cave at the exact moment that everyone starts bringing their stuff together. She walks in to see different Team members walking up, holding different blankets and supplies under their arms. Honestly, she feels a bit nervous since she hasn't seen the entire Team in one place. And it's pretty intimidating.

Everyone starts heading outside while she just stays there for a few moments, recollecting her thoughts.

"Aren't you coming?"

She jumps and whips around to see Dick standing there, in a pair of trunks and a button down shirt. He has his hands folded, and she thinks that he has a different aura around him, like he's finally calm and knows that nothing will disturb him today. She quickly looks down to avoid staring at his face.

"I'm not familiar with the beach." She starts when he surprises her by laughing.

She thinks she likes hearing him laugh.

"You don't need to be familiar at all." He grins. "All you need to do today is relax."

"Really?" she softly grins.

His smile twitches at the corner of his mouth a bit more. "It's been a Team tradition since my friends and I formed this Team almost eight years ago."

He smiles down at her and puts a hand on her back. "Shall we?"

* * *

The beach is a lot more fun than she thought it would be.

After a play in the water, they had a volleyball match, followed by a small meal from Conner's portable grill. Now, they were all just lounging around, sunbathing on the sand, or making sandcastles or playing even more games with each other.

She's sitting on the blanket Dick lent her since she didn't bring one of her own. She likes this feeling, relaxing like this with the sun beating down on her back. Even on Themyscira, she never got the opportunity to kick back and have a beach day since they didn't believe in it there. All the time she was either training or brushing up on her history. She honestly never knew what she had been missing all this time.

"Enjoying?" Alex comes to sit down beside her.

She turns to look at him. His hair's a bit damp from almost being drowned by Tim an hour ago. He has a t-shirt with his swimming trunks and his sunglasses are reflecting the light of the sun. She, herself is taking his advice to be cool and has on a light yellow tank top with denim cutoffs. She nods at him.

"A lot actually."

"Didn't see you in the water earlier." He says. "And I'm guessing you didn't bring a swimsuit."

She shakes her head. "Honestly, I'm afraid of water."

He looks almost seconds from bursting into laughter when she glares at him to shut him up. He turns away and spreads his legs out, leaning back on his arms. She turns back to watching the ocean and just enjoying the silence. It's actually kinda nice.

After a few minutes, he sits up. "Skylar, I need to show you something." He scrambles up to his feet. She suddenly feels a gaze that she's grown accustomed to over the week. She turns her head to look back and sees Dick, sitting on a blanket with Barbara, who's animatedly chatting with him, but he's not interested in the conversation. His gaze is focused on Skylar and Alex. He doesn't need to remove his sunglasses for her to know that.

Alex also suddenly seems to notice that Dick is staring at them and almost cringes. She doesn't blame him. The man can make a look feel deadly even from behind a pair of glasses. She stands up and gives him a small smile. After noting his nod in reply, she turns back to Alex who begins to lead the way.

* * *

What on earth does she have to do with him?

He wonders whether that's a good thing or a bad thing that the young black-haired girl is the only thing on his mind right now. Even though Barbara came and started talking to him a long time ago, he had his eyes on Skylar the whole time. He has to say that he tightened his fists when Alex came to sit next to her. Sure, he knows they're good friends and he's been helping her settle in, but he just can't stand seeing him with her like that. And he's pretty sure he's imagining the distance between him and her.

It was probably the last straw when Alex got up and offered to show her something. Right then, he has no idea why, but he almost wills her to say no. He wishes that she would disagree and he would leave her in peace. And he won't pretend that a part of him isn't hoping that she might come over here and ask for his help, or just talk to him. He's been keeping an eye on her all day, but he's pretty sure that wherever Alex is taking her is out of his sight. He just can't stand that, and he hopes that Alex will just walk away.

But then the two kids notice him staring at them. He has no idea how to react to that. He was just caught glaring at his best friend's youngest cousin because he was being friendly with the newest recruit. Or, at least he hopes he was just being friendly.

Skylar gives him a small smile that almost gives him the confidence he needs. It's like she's asking for his permission, although he has no idea why she would ever need on a day like this. Nevertheless, he still gives her a small nod in approval. A few moments later, she's gone and he can't stop thinking about what they might be doing.

_If he touches her…_

"Dick, are you listening?" Barbara asks.

"What?" He turns back to her, trying to hide the expression on his face.

"What're you staring at?" She asks, looking over him. "Hey, isn't that the blanket you lent Skylar?"

He sheepishly nods. "Well, where is she?" she asks.

"Alex wanted to show her something." He says.

"Is that why you're so wound up?" she laughs. He shakes his head. "No. Why would I be?"

"Please, Dick. You're practically radiating over protectiveness." She says. "If you're so worried about her, why don't you follow her?"

He shakes his head. "No. I already told you that I will not spy on her. I'll let her tell me anything, when she wants to."

* * *

"Where are you taking me?" she asks him, pulling herself onto a rock.

"We're here." He replies, holding out his hand for her.

She stands up and almost gasps because it is beautiful. He's taken her closer to the sea, but in a place that will not at all get her wet. The sea is almost right in front of her, but still far away. All she can think right now is wow! She turns her head to look at him. Somehow, she thinks this place has a special meaning to him. Or she could say that since there's a light in his eyes that she hasn't seen yet.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he asks.

She nods. "It's amazing. How did you know about this place?"

"Found it when I first joined." He says. "I come here when I've had a bad day." He looks out to the sea. "It helps me think."

"I can see why." She replies, feeling her heart flutter as she stares out at the beautiful sunset.

"I heard that Nightwing used to come here a lot too in his younger days." He says. "I think he was the one who found the place."

She nods, her mind still full of beautiful images. "Why are you showing _me_ this?" she asks.

"Well, because…" he stammers. "I don't know why. My gut just says that you might need to come here soon."

"Well, your gut is right." She says. "I will be coming here a lot more often."

* * *

She's met by Diana the second she closes the door. The older woman is standing there sternly, her arms crossed and the expression on her face said that she definitely wasn't amused.

"So, how did the day go?" she asks.

The teenager sheepishly shrugs. "Okay, I guess." She slowly says.

"Did anything happen?" Diana asks.

Skylar shakes her head. "Nope, nothing much." She quickly says. At another stern look, she manages to blurt out, "Nightwing helped me settle in."

Diana raises her eyebrow. "What does he want with you?" she asks.

"Are you really asking _me_ that?" Skylar asks. "I've never seen a beach before today!"

Diana ignores her and starts muttering to herself. She turns away and walks almost halfway across the room. Sighing, Skylar walks to the couch and puts her bag down. Out of the corner of her eye, she notices Diana stop pacing and rub her eyes for s second. The woman turns back to her and the protective expression in her eyes changes to a much softer one.

"Skylar, why don't you check in your bedroom?" she smiles.

Surprised by the sudden mood change, Skylar gets up and walks to her room. When she opens the door however, she gets an even bigger surprise as a small ball of golden fur suddenly attacks her. She steps back to see a tiny golden retriever puppy on her, wagging its tail and pawing at her. She lets out a laugh.

"Diana? I didn't know we had company?" she laughs as the puppy licks her face.

Diana stands by the door, a small smile on her face. "I figured it was time you got someone to keep you company." She smiles. "I found her at the local shelter. Her previous owners abandoned her, so I thought she'd like a new owner."

"Me?" Skylar asks, astounded. She picks up the tiny puppy and turns around. "I don't know if I'm ready…"

"You don't have to be." Diana smiles. "I know you are."

"Well, I love her." Skylar leans her head forward to touch her nose with the tiny puppy, whose tail picks up wind at once.

"What're you going to call her?" Diana asks.

"I think I'll call her…Shiloh." Skylar says after thinking for a moment. The tiny puppy gives a tiny bark at hearing the name.

Diana laughs. "I think I'll leave you two to get acquainted." Saying so, she walks out of the room, throwing Skylar a soft smile before shutting the door behind her.

Skylar suddenly starts to feel Shiloh start to fidget in her arms. She walks to the bed and puts the pup down. At once, the little pup leaps off the bed and runs to the window, jumping up as much as her height would permit and releasing these small barks. Skylar gets up to see what the dog has been barking about when she notices a note stuck to the window. Her eyes widen as she cautiously walks to the window and opens it, removing the note and reading it.

_Watch your back_

Three words. There are only three words on that small piece of paper. But the message behind them is clear: She's not safe, not anymore.

Shiloh looks up at her with wide eyes. Taking a deep breath, she looks down at the dog.

"Shiloh, I don't know if you can really understand me, but I guess you'll help me in some way." She closes her eyes for a second.

"I think I'm being watched."

* * *

**A/N: Yep, I introduced a dog. I don't know why, really. Maybe it's because I've always wanted a dog and since I don't have one, I have to settle with a fictional one. Shiloh's actually modeled off my own dream dog (who I dream of being a proud owner of someday.) Hope you like her, guys.**

**And what're your views about this story. Should I keep going? How are the characters? I'd love to hear all about it.**

**Oh, and expect a Diana/Dick confrontation in the next chapter.**

**Please review to tell me what you want to see.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thought it was time for Skylar's first mission. **

**Hope you guys like it.**

* * *

Chapter 8

* * *

He's at the Cave, looking over some newly acquired data when the computer announces Diana's presence. He ignores it for the time-being, thinking that she must have come here for a status report on Skylar. Before she allowed him to teach her, they had a deal that she would have regular updates. But he definitely wasn't prepared for a hurricane when Diana comes bursting in with her fists clenched and an angry look on her face. He almost jumps out of his chair at feeling the sudden rage. She storms over to him and pulls him up, glaring at him.

"Okay, Dick, what's your game?" she growls.

"What?" he asks, extremely confused.

"You know, what game you're playing." Diana elaborates, but only a little.

"Game?" he asks.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about." She growls. "What game are you playing with Skylar?"

He looks up. "Is this about Skylar?" he asks.

"Damn right, it is." Diana says. "Now spill. How are you going to hurt her?"

"What makes you think that I'm trying to hurt her?" he asks, his temper starting to rise.

"You're trying to protect her." Diana says. "Apart from that, you've been trying to make her comfortable, and I guess other things."

"I only do those things because she's new." His voice starts to rise as well. "I'm trying to help her."

"Well, stop doing that!" Diana yells. "Knowing you, you'll end up manipulating her in some way or the other and end up breaking her heart. We had a deal that you would only be her teacher, nothing else."

"Why do you think I'd ever try to manipulate her?" Dick yells. "I _am_ only being her teacher."

"Well, you're getting closer to her somehow." She roars.

"You can't stop me interacting with her!" he yells. "A friendship will only make the teaching go faster."

"Think what you want, Grayson." Diana snarls.

"I think it's time for you to leave." He says, turning away. She turns around and starts to head for the zeta beam. Before she gets in, she turns back for a second, flames in her eyes.

"Believe me, Dick. You even _try_ to hurt her, I'm coming after you."

* * *

"I can't believe this is actually happening." La'gaan grumbles.

She rolls her eyes at him before looking back at Dick. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Conner having the same reaction she has. It somehow makes her feel better that someone else on the Team feels the same way she does. She's not the one for being judgmental at a second's glance, but she can make an exception for Lagoon Boy. She honestly can't believe that Dick let him on the Team since La'gaan's everything but sportsmanlike or social. She also has a feeling that she's not alone.

She sees Dick sigh. "La'gaan," he says, "like it or not, you're a part of a team. And that requires working with your teammates."

"But Gamma, again?" La'gaan asks. "Why don't I ever get Beta or something like that?"

She can see Nightwing's patience depleting as well. "Because the other squads are filled." He simply says. La'gaan opens his mouth to argue, but with the look the black-clad man is giving him is enough to make him shut his mouth. Not even Lagoon Boy wanted to take on Nightwing, or see him in a temper.

"So, that's final." Dick says, looking at the rest of them. "Lagoon Boy, Robin, Wonder Girl and Blue Beetle, you're Gamma. Take the bio-ship, you're headed to Alaska. And don't forget polar stealth. Mission details will be given once you reach."

She silently nods along with the rest of her Team. Seems like only yesterday she just joined the Team, and now she was off on her first mission with the Team. Sure she was known for her strength and stuff, Nightwing had given her stealth training as well. But that's only a little assuring.

"Get it? Dismissed." Nightwing says.

Tim places a hand on her shoulder as he passes her and gives her a reassuring smile. She shyly smiles back at him before he gets dragged away by Jaime. La'gaan just ignores her, which ticks her off, just a little bit. What did she ever do to him?

"He's like that with every new member." She almost jumps and looks up to see Dick standing in front of her. He gives her a smile, and that makes her feel a bit more confident than before. "Don't let his pessimistic attitude get you down on your first mission."

She looks down and nervously rubs her arms. "I don't know if I'm ready…"

"I'll be the judge of that." He says. "And according to the tremendous progress you've displayed, I think you're good to go." He puts a hand on her shoulder. "If you need any help, Tim's there to help you, and so is Jaime. He's been kind of fond of you for a while now." She looks up at him, imagining his blue eyes through the white lens of his mask. "Look, I believe in you, okay? You're doing really well in training. You're ready. Just believe in yourself, and if you don't, just know that _I_ always will."

Her polar stealth costume is actually not very different from her normal costume. The only thing is, it's warm and insulated, and she feels warmer the instant she puts it on. It consists of a full sleeved white top, with the Ws on her chest grey in color, thick white skinny jeans and a pair of white snow boots that go a few inches up her legs. It's surprisingly comfortable and fits in just the right way. She pulls up her sleeves just a few inches so that it exposes her silver bracelets.

"You look nice." Tim comments, pulling up his white hood.

"Thanks." She smiles.

"You sure you don't need a hood?" Tim asks, looking around. "It's going to be freezing in Alaska."

She shakes her head. "I think I'll manage."

He shrugs. "I'll still carry one, since it's your first time there." She smiles in thanks. He starts to walk forward as Jaime beckons him, and stops near her. He bends down to her ear level. "And don't get carried away with all the sledding you'll see there." He whispers to her.

"Sledding?" she asks. "What's sledding?"

But he just grins and walks over to Jaime, who is busy arguing with his Scarab.

* * *

"We're here." Robin announces.

She gives a tiny start as her head had almost started to nod off. She looks up and sees Robin keeping an eye on her. Once he sees that she's awake, he gives her a small smile and motions with his head to look outside. Quickly pushing the bangs out of her eyes, she turns her head slightly to look out of the window and is met with an astounding sight.

The entire place is covered with a blanket of white. She can see a few trees here and there, but what really has her attention is all the snow. She's heard of it from Diana, but she never imagined it to be this beautiful. The entire landscape is just so mysterious and inviting and almost makes her want to jump out and get in there…

"You think this is amazing, _chica_," Jaime says, "just wait for a few moments and it will really get good."

She can hardly hear him, but still nods as her eyes are fixated on the beautiful whiteness underneath her. Jaime gets up from his seat and goes over to her, leaning with his hand against the window. At once, she notices a soft smile on his face, like this environment really calms him down. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees La'gaan sitting in his chair, a grumpy expression on his face, like he had something better to do than being in this country.

Before she can give him a piece of her mind, Jaime quickly pats her hand and she turns her head so quickly she thinks her neck might have snapped. But what she's met with definitely makes her mouth drop open.

Elks and Caribous. Hundreds of them. Just all running across the landscape. The way those majestic creatures simply move is enough to fill her with a sense of emotion. While admiring their racing, she notices something else. Behind all the herds, are four to five huge creatures. All running up to the elks, as if chasing them. That's when it clicks to her that they are wolves.

"Don't worry." Jaime assures her. "Where we're going there won't be any wolves."

"But you might see a lot of Huskies and Malamutes." Tim cuts in.

Jaime glares at his friend as Skylar wonders what those are. Okay, she really _needs_ to get out more.

Tim presses a button on the deck which opens up a screen showing Nightwing. The four members take their positions, and Skylar tears her eyes away from the amazing scenery underneath her and looks up at her leader.

"Nightwing, we're here." Tim says. "What should we do?"

"Well, the annual sledding competition is scheduled for today, and our sources tell us that the League of Assassins is trying to sabotage it." Dick explains.

"But why would they be worrying about some simple sledding contest?" Jaime asks.

"We're not sure." Dick says. "But that's where you four come in. All you have to do is investigate. Report back _immediately_ if you find anything. And I mean _immediately_!" The last sentence seems to be directed mostly towards La'gaan, who slightly cowered under Dick's impressive bat-glare.

"Got it." Tim says.

"Good. Nightwing out." Dick says before signing off.

* * *

Robin parks the bio-ship behind a huge mound of snow. It's camouflaged, but why take the risk of placing it in a place with a sort of crowd?

La'gaan's the first to jump off the bio-ship, and doesn't hesitate to throw Skylar a very hostile look over his shoulder. She narrows her eyes, wondering what the hell is wrong with him. Jaime places a hand on her shoulder and gives her a sympathetic look before jumping off. She takes a deep breath, preparing herself for what's coming. She can't help but to feel nervous. Luckily she knows that her team members have her back. Or at least Tim and Jaime do.

Robin follows her out and leads her to where Blue Beetle and Lagoon Boy are hiding behind a tiny hill of snow.

"What's the plan?" Jaime asks.

"Nightwing's sent me coordinates where there's some suspicious activity. We investigate that, and report that, just like he said." Tim says. "But first…" He softly puts his hand on her arm and starts leading her up. "Blue, Lagoon Boy, hold the fort. We'll be back in a second."

"Where're you two going?" Jaime asks, not even attempting to hide the smile on his face.

"To give Skylar her very first experience of watching sledding." Tim replies.

All the while, she can't help but feel like a tool. She knows that Dick put her on this squad because she'd have the upper hand in a battle with the use of her strength, but now it's just going crazy. She has absolutely no idea what sledding is, and is Tim really going to abandon the mission for such a petty thing? She asks him this and he chuckles, all the while still leading her to a place where she sees flag posts.

He takes her near the place, which seems to be a race course of some sort. (Yes, she knows about race courses. She may be very naïve, but she knows about racing.) They hide near a mound of snow where they'll have a clear view, and he keeps her down for a moment, before softly urging her to peek.

She's met with the sight of her life.

It's definitely a race course, but not the type she expected. There are a ton of things, with wide bases as if made for the snow. They have these ropes that are tied to the most amazing creatures she's ever seen. Huge, majestic, long snouted, athletic, these are probably the nest dogs she's ever seen. And the best thing is, they're practically made for the snow. She can tell by their thick coats and wide paws. Some of them are bigger than others, and she wonders what's up with that. The other thing is, these dogs are like in teams, with at least one or two dogs leading. She has no idea about these things, but she thinks that those are the lead dogs.

"You're right." Tim tells her. "Those dogs in the front of the pack are called lead dogs. They're the ones that not only navigate through the area, but also rely orders to the rest of the pack." He points to the five or six teams as he explains. "They're kinda like the Nightwings of sledding."

"That's sledding?" she asks, still very much in awe.

"Those things the dogs are pulling, they're called sleds." He explains. "Racing them is called sledding. There's a lot of snow here all year long, so people tend to get into stuff like this."

"Is there a reason why you're showing me this?" she softly asks.

"Heard you got your own dog." He smiles. "I figured you were a dog lover and thought you might like this. Those huge dogs you see over there," he points at some exceptionally huge dogs in one team, "those are Alaskan Malamutes. They're built for strength, not really speed, but people still manage to win races with teams of them. And those smaller dogs," he points again, "Those are Siberian Huskies. The ultimate cold-weather companions. You live anywhere with a lot of snow, get a Husky. They love to pull sleds. They were actually bred for that."

"But what's that?" she points at a huge dog waiting by the readying racers.

"That's a rescue dog." Tim says. "A Saint Bernard to be exact. They're posted all around this area. The weather conditions sometimes make these mushers lose control of their sleds. These dogs sniff them out and provide help, or they alert people who can help."

"Wow." That's all she can say. All this is so new to her; she can't believe how much she's been missing.

"Come on," Tim puts a hand on her back. "Let's get back. We still have a mission to complete."

* * *

"How did she like it?" Jaime asks, curious to know all the details.

"Shouldn't we be concentrating on the mission?" she cautiously asks.

"Good point." Tim says. "We'll split up. It's the only way to cover more ground. Blue Beetle, you take the middle course. Lagoon Boy, we'll need coverage underwater. Wonder Girl, you take the warehouses near here. I'll take the end." He placed her because he knew she knew where they were. He could not afford to lose her on her first mission. "Meet back once the race is over. Our mission is to snoop around. Any sign of an assassin, contact the rest of the squad _immediately_."

La'gaan grunts in reply and takes off for the nearest water resource. Tim wishes her good luck as she quickly flies off for the warehouses. Before he and Jaime can part ways, he leans in forward to the other boy. "Yeah, she loved it." He grins. Both boys grin before taking off for their respective locations.

* * *

She makes it to the warehouses just as the race begins. Seeing all those dogs running really sets her off. She still can't believe they have the strength to pull a sled, let alone one with a man on it, but Tim did tell her that it all depended on their teamwork. Honestly, she's a bit jealous.

She opens the door to one of the warehouses and gets inside, her eyes spying a whole lot of sleds and dog food. She shrugs and continues forward. AT once, a small rustling catches her ears and she whips around, being careful to be extremely quiet. She rubs her clothed arms, feeling a bit exposed for whatever reason. Just as she convinces herself that she's safe and continues to go inside, she gets into a real fix as well as a surprise.

Someone puts a hand over her mouth and that sets off her nerves. She's had the feeling of being watched for so long, now she thinks it's all coming to her. She thrashes wildly; kicking her legs out, all thought of staying calm and collected slipping from her mind and being replaced by plain white fear. She still manages to keep it together and slams her elbows into the attacker's chest, giving her a moment of freedom. But she hardly gets two steps before someone slides a handkerchief over her mouth and everything goes black.

* * *

It's been three hours since the race ended.

He's at the rendezvous spot with Jaime and La'gaan, but has just noticed that they're missing Skylar. He's been waiting for literally three hours for her, and he's now feeling extremely concerned.

"She'll be fine, _hermano_." Jaime tells him. "She probably just got caught up with petting all those dogs."

"I don't see any dogs nearby, do you?" Tim asks, and then apologizes for being slightly snappish.

"That's it." He says. "I'm going to look for her."

It's hardly twenty minutes before he comes back, shock written all over his face.

"Robin?" Jaime asks, sounding scared.

"She's gone. Skylar is gone."

* * *

**A/N: 0.0 cliffhanger! **

**Hope you liked the chapter guys. Hope you like it. And no, the story is not about to end. It's only just begun.**

**Please review.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Okay, I'm on a roll with this storyline. I'm really beginning to love these characters. From now on, there'll be more focus on Dick and Skylar's interaction, that's for sure. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 9

* * *

She wakes up to the sound of voices near her. Her mind immediately fills with fear when she realizes she's been blindfolded, but not gagged. That slightly startles her when she's not freaking out inside.

She gathers herself up and remembers what Dick taught her about these things. _Breathe, Skylar._ She tells herself_. In. Out. Deep breaths._ She hears someone coming near her, and clenches her fists under her bonds. But before she can do anything like strike, the blindfold is taken off her eyes and she finds herself face-to-face with an old man.

Or she thinks he's old.

He's definitely aged, but has a seemingly young look about him. He's gazing so intently at her that she actually cringes. She notices that he seems to be happy when he notices the fear in her eyes.

"I can see why they wanted her." He says. "She has a lot of potential."

What was he talking about?

"So, what should we do with her?" a voice behind him asks. "Train her to be like us?"

The man shakes his head. "No, she's capable of much, much more." He circles her. "We'll give her the training she needs. And then we'll set her on them."

She quickly closes her eyes as she hears an approval. "As you wish, Ra's al Ghul."

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'S GONE?"

Tim slightly shifts back as his older brother's bark rings through the Cave. It wasn't like he wasn't expecting a reaction like this when he came into the Cave, a guilty look on his face and missing one member. He takes a deep breath, trying to think of what to tell Dick. Anyway, nothing can make him feel worse.

"I mean, we were at the rendezvous point for three hours and she didn't show up." Tim explains. "I went into the warehouses to look for her, but all I found was this." He holds up two gold loop earrings. "They must have fallen off when she got abducted." He doesn't miss how Dick's eyes widen from behind his mask. Even from here he can tell the anger starting to rise inside Dick.

"But are you absolutely sure that she's abducted?" Dick asks again, trying to avoid the fact for as long as he could.

"I sent her to scope out the warehouses. She was three hours late, and when I went to get her, she was gone. Everything expect for her earrings." Tim repeats.

Dick takes a deep breath and runs a hand through his raven locks. "Diana's not gonna take this well." He mutters.

"I don't think we're taking it well, either." Tim interjects.

Both of them sigh. "What do you think happened, Tim?" Dick asks.

"Well, all the signs point to her being abducted by the League of Assassins. We just don't know why." Tim says.

"We can worry about the why later." Dick says, turning and opening the holographic computer. "First we need to find her."

* * *

She's woken up when she hears the door of her cell open. She gets up and narrows her eyes at the brunette who walks over to her with a plate of food in her hand. She looks skeptically at the food and the woman chuckles.

"Do not worry." The woman says. "This is not poisoned. You'll need your strength."

"Surprised you'll want to treat one of your _prisoners_ so nicely." Skylar says in an icy tone.

"Oh, you're not our prisoner." The woman grins. "My name is Talia al Ghul. I am the daughter of Ra's al Ghul."

"And you're telling me this, why?" Skylar feels the urge to pull away.

"You're now part of our family." Talia tells her. "In the afternoon, I will take you to your quarters. You will get your first training session in the evening."

"Whoa!" Skylar shakes her head. "I'm not part of your family, or whatever. I'm not going to be trained by you or anybody."

"I thought you might resist." Talia says. "But the League of Assassins has been looking for you for a long time."

"Wait, looking for me?" Skylar asks. "Were you the ones who put those notes on my window?"

Talia shakes her head. "No, we're not. But I'm starting to see why they wanted you so much. You are much more powerful than you know. Luckily you have us, to harness your true potential and find your place in this huge world." Saying so, Talia walks out of the cell and closes the door behind her. Skylar stares distastefully at the food kept in front of her, her head still ringing with all the information Talia just told her. What did she mean they were looking for her? If they didn't leave the notes on her window, then who did?

Skylar leans forward and puts her head in her hands. _Wherever you are, Dick,_ she prays, _Please come and find me._

* * *

He looks up just as the computer announces her arrival.

His eyes quickly wander over the magician who just came out of the zeta tube. She unconsciously pulled her gloves a bit higher up her arm. Usually he'd find it hot, but right now he's desperate to find his young student. He'd never forgive himself if he didn't do all he could to find her.

"Why'd you call, Dick?" Zatanna asks.

"Zee, I need your help." He says. "Wonder Girl's been kidnapped by the League of Assassins, but we don't know where to look. You think you can track their base?"

"Of course I can." She grins. "I've gotten better at it, you know."

"But don't you need magic to track the source?" Dick asks.

"Doesn't hurt to try." Zatanna shrugs. "Who knows? Maybe the League of Assassins has a wizard or some type of magic user with them, for whatever reason." She looks at him and notices the worried look on his face. "I'll find her, Dick. I'll do my best."

* * *

"This is the very best view we have here." Talia says.

Skylar looks out of the window, thinking she'd still see snow and ice everywhere. Thinking about that brought back the memory of Shiloh. She's getting a bit worried about her tiny golden puppy. She'd do anything to have that tiny bundle of energy with her right now. When she looks out, she sees a warm, temperate climate. The first thing she sees is the beach just outside a sort of dense jungle. The scene reminds her of Themyscira and she wonders whether she's back home for a moment before pushing that idea away. She turns back to Talia.

"Why?" she asks.

"Of course, for our very best person." Talia smirks.

"Where am I?" Skylar asks.

"I can't very well tell you that, can I?" Talia retorts. "We simply can't risk you escaping. That would be a huge disappointment for my father."

"Well, I'm not staying here." Skylar says angrily.

"I don't think you have a choice, my dear." Talia's tone is now icy.

"You can't force me to be here. You can't force me to be your assassin pawn." Skylar growls.

"Oh, you're not going to be forced." Talia says. "You will be doing everything of your own accord."

Skylar turns back to staring out of the window, wondering what all that was about. Talia goes to the door. "You should get out of those uncomfortable white clothes." The woman says. "More comfortable attire has been provided to you and the water is hot. You should really start getting into your new home." She closes the door behind her.

Skylar stares at the assortment of clothes provided. Black sleeveless button shirt, black pants, a black miniskirt, black gloves that went up her elbows and pair of black knee high boots. All clothing so close to an assassin's. She hated it. She hated everything about it. For a second, she thought of finding a way to escape, but that hope was shattered when she saw the number of sentries on the perimeter. She sits back on the bed and puts her head in her hands, sobbing quietly.

* * *

"I think I've tracked her." Zatanna announces.

She has her hands up and had been muttering a spell under her breath for a while, and all this had just increased Dick's anxiety even more. The holographic globe he had projected turned and a red marker appeared. "I think that's where the headquarters of the League of Assassins is." Zatanna says. He quickly locks the coordinates and is mildly surprised to find out where they lead to.

"Where are they?" Tim asks from behind him.

"Miami." Dick says.

* * *

She walks into the training room, coming face-to-face with the man called Ra's al Ghul all over again. She tries to hide the anger seeping into her body at the sight of him.

"She definitely has the fire." He says, turning to Talia. "She will make a good addition."

She steps back, clenching her fists. "I'm not doing anything for you."

Ra's laughs. "You still are very naïve." He says. "We'll change it for you."

He turns back and nods at his daughter who puts her hand up to give a signal to somebody. Instantly, Skylar feels somebody come up behind her and hold her. Feeling the adrenaline kick in, fueling the fear, she kicks out, but to no avail again as she is just simply tied up and gagged before inhaling some gas that knocks her out.

"We're going to have some fun with her." Ra's grins.

* * *

"You sure this is the place?"

He turns to Tim, who is busy peeking out from behind a bush. He takes a deep breath. "According to Zee's spell it is." Dick says. "We need to trust in that."

"But what if we don't find her in there?" Tim asks, concerned. "I mean, it's been at least ten to fifteen hours since we tracked her. A lot can happen in that time."

A thought crosses Dick's mind, but he pushes it away. "We'll just have to hope that's not the case."

He turns to Zatanna who was hiding beside him. "I'm surprised you wanted to come along." He tells her.

"Well, no one else was in." she smiles. "So I thought I'd step in and help you."

"Thanks, we really appreciate it." Tim says, nodding to her. "So, what's the plan?"

"We barge in, get our teammate and get out." Dick says. "What? What else did you expect?" he asks as Tim raises an eyebrow at him.

"Well, I'm in one hundred per cent." Zatanna cracked her knuckles, preparing for an epic showdown.

The trio sneaks past the guards on patrol and get to a huge mahogany door.

"Classy." Tim comments. Dick nods in agreement.

"Shouldn't we be focusing on getting inside?" Zatanna asks in an exasperated voice, hands up and getting a spell ready.

"Yeah, uh, Zee?" Dick stammers, gesturing to the door.

She rolls her eyes and steps forward, saying something backwards quickly. Dick pulls out his escrima sticks and Tim's staff is already in his hands. The door swings open and they charge in, everything just falling into place as hordes of assassins go at them, only to be beaten down.

Dick's just finished slamming two assassins' heads together when a loud booming voice stops them all. He looks up to see a person that he definitely hoped he wouldn't see.

"Ra's al Ghul." He snarls.

"Well, this is a surprise." Ra's says. "But luckily we're all done with training, so that's all right."

"What have you done with Wonder Girl?" Tim yells.

"Oh, the girl?" Ra's asks, faking a look of surprise. "Well, she had a change of heart."

A girl comes to stand beside him and Dick's eyes practically fall out of his head. Behind him, Dick hears Zatanna gasp and Tim's knees almost give out. He's not sure whether that actually happened, but he's too stunned to say anything. His focus is on the figure who came to the white lighting of the mansion.

"Skylar…"

* * *

**A/N: Told you it's only just begun.**

**Please leave reviews on what you want to see in the next chapter. I'd love to hear your views. Can you guys guess what's about to happen?**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hope you guys like where this story is going. There's some major action in this chapter, and a whole lot of angst and fluff in the next. And no, the story's not even over, it's only just begun.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 10

* * *

He's staring at her, dressed in assassin clothing, normally long black locks tied up under her cloak and hood, which cast dark shadows over her face and gave her face a dark and gruesome expression. He can see a sword hanging at her side, the handle close to her hand. She looked so different, so strange. But what shocked him most were her eyes. The normally lively and beautiful blue eyes were now a startling steel grey that pierced right into you.

That wasn't the Skylar he knew, that was for sure.

"How do you like my new assassin, Nightwing?" Ra's asks as Talia comes to stand beside him.

Behind him, Dick can almost hear Tim clenching his fists. Just as the younger boy starts to walk forward, Dick puts his hand up and stops Tim from doing something he would definitely regret. But he can't deny that he himself has been thinking of doing something…bad…to Ra's.

"Let her go, Ra's." he says. "She's not an assassin."

"I beg to differ." Ra's smirks, and Dick can practically feel the anger radiating off of Tim and shock coming off Zatanna. "She's been a very fast learner, and picked up my techniques faster than any of my other students did."

"I'll repeat," Dick growls, "let my team member go, or it's not gonna be pretty."

"I'd love to let her go." Ra's mockingly puts a hand on his chest in mock hurt. "But I'm afraid she doesn't want to leave."

"WHAT!" Dick knows that he can't hold Tim back any longer. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOT LEAVING?"

"She's staying here, of her own accord." Ra's replies, openly enjoying the anger that Tim and Dick are projecting.

"Is this true?" Dick asks one question, directed not at Ra's, but at Skylar. It's not like he believes Ra's, but he wants to hear it for himself, and from her. Mostly, he still wants to know whether his little student is still with them.

He can feel his heart almost dropping out of his chest when she casually nods, the hood falling a little more over her eyes. He now knows for sure that she's not in there. He should've picked it up when he locked eyes with her. But right now, all he can feel is immense anger flooding through him. What on earth did Ra's al Ghul do to her that would make her act this way? (And yes, he's aware she hasn't even said a single word till now.) He still has a hard time keeping Tim from getting his hands around Ra's al Ghul's neck.

"What did you do to her?" he growls.

"Oh, nothing." Ra's nonchalantly shrugs. "Just showed her what I could give her, took her to a little training class, brainwashed her a little bit…"

Dick's clenches his fist tightly, anger coursing through him. She was brainwashed! He should've picked it up from her steel grey eyes. He mentally kicks himself for not noticing that. Oh, Batman would kill him if he knew about this…

Wait, she was brainwashed! That meant she wasn't lost at all. He could still bring her back if he tried. But how does one go about such a thing anyway?

"You're going down, Ra's!" Tim snarls, running forward, staff drawn.

Ra's simply steps back, that menacing grin still on his face. Dick has no idea why he'd do that, but suddenly he spots Skylar move forward, hand on her sword. One simple thought runs through his head at noticing that subtle motion: _Oh No!_

* * *

What surprises him is that she's gotten so much better with her agility.

Seriously, she flips over the makeshift balcony and lands right on her feet without faltering, something she wasn't able to achieve with him. He figured that he'd just give her time, but this was astonishing. He only left her for a _day_. How does a girl learn to move like that in just one day? Then he reminds himself that she's been brain-blasted.

He watches as Tim charges at her, using his amazing techniques. But she just dodges them with ease and swings her machete at him. She would've cut his head off if he hadn't turned in one split second and blocked the blow with his staff. The fight just escalates from there.

He's right there, watching Tim and Skylar go up against each other. They're fighting like anything. He's never seen the two of them that angry, or at least Tim. He thinks that part of that energy must be fuelled by his anger at Ra's for turning her from a soft, sweet and considerate girl to this heartless, mute killer.

He's fighting well, but she's better.

Zatanna steps in when Skylar slices Tim's arm, cutting through the material and leaving a deep gash. Tim's definitely surprised as that one cut takes out his entire arm. He figures that the sword must have been tipped with some sort of toxin or poison. Well, he'll survive.

Zatanna faces off against Skylar. Honestly, it feels weird watching both raven-haired girls go up against each other like that. He can see the intensity in both their eyes, though mostly in Zatanna's blue eyes; Skylar's grey gaze never even showed a single sign of emotion. He helps Tim up, still watching the magician and the young girl circle each other like wild animals.

Zatanna suddenly puts her hand up and starts reciting something backwards. Skylar's next movement surprises him even more. She reaches behind her and whips out a black leather whip. She uses techniques he's never seen in his life. She cracks it once, that's all it needs. The tip curls around Zatanna's outstretched hand and pulls the magician down. The second Zatanna hits the floor, Skylar whips up her sword and slices at her. Luckily, Zatanna's instincts kick in and she ducks, receiving only a light cut by the edge of the blade.

He doesn't know why he does that, but by that time everything in his brain has turned to mush. He simply can't take it anymore. Watching his student almost kill his ex-girlfriend like that simply takes it out of him. Standing by simply isn't an option anymore.

So, he does the only other thing he can.

Before she can deliver a fatal blow to the magician, he steps in. He grabs her outstretched arm, holding her firmly. All her movements still at that second. She turns around, surprise evident on her face as she stares at the man still holding her arm down.

"Now that's enough." He says.

She doesn't say anything, just stares at him, some emotion creeping into her eyes. Seeing this, he lets go of her arm and stands in front. Little did he know that was a wrong move to make.

She attacks him, surprising him. Only his training with Batman prevented him from losing his head at that second. He can vaguely just register Tim and Zatanna staring at them. His complete focus right now is on overpowering Skylar, or the person who used to be Skylar. This may be her body, but it definitely wasn't her at all.

He can see how much she actually picked up at her time here (even though it was just a day.) Her movements are more organized, more coordinated, all her body parts in perfect coordination. She's using that sword like an extension of her arm, the same way he's using his escrima sticks right now.

This goes on for a long time, he doesn't know how long. All he knows is that while he starts tiring down, she hasn't even broken a sweat. He's panting, breathing heavily with sweat dripping down his face and his hair falling into his eyes.

He steps back, panting hard. But that was another mistake he would later add to his list of mistakes in the past one week.

Immediately, she uses her legs to sweep out his legs out from under him and landing him on his back, hard. The pain that shoots through his body is familiar, but strange at the same time. When he's down, she towers over him, setting her leg over his so that she was straddling him in a way that made it impossible for him to escape. With one hand, she holds him down with her fingers around his neck. With the other, she brandishes her sword and twirls it in her hand for a second, finally pointing the tip down at his heart.

He tightly closes his eyes, waiting for her to push that blade through him and kill him. But, it doesn't come. He opens his eyes to see why, and finds her staring at his face, a mixed expression on her face. The sword's still pointed at his heart, but the blade's shaking slightly.

He knows right then that she's hesitating. He also knows that there's still a chance.

"Don't do it, Skylar." He whispers to her.

An unreadable expression passes over her face, but before he can to intercept it, she turns her head to Ra's. The man gives her an encouraging nod. She turns back to him and her fingers tighten around the hilt of the machete, preparing to slice through his heart, but she stops when he shakes her head at him.

"I know you're still in there." He tells her. "We need Skylar back. _I_ need Skylar back."

Her lips part for the fraction of a second. He then notices that her eyes hold a very confused expression.

"It's me." He tells her once again. "I'm here to bring you back." Her breath starts to speed up and she starts to breathe heavily. "Fight it. I know you can."

"Just kill him already." Ra's groans. "Then finish the other two."

"You can fight it." He tries again. "You don't have to do what Ra's tells you to. You're free to do whatever you like."

"One push to end it." Ra's calls. "Finish it."

"_I believe in you!"_

She gasps at that last sentence he blurts out. He stares as her posture fixes itself, into the familiar one he knows. Her grey eyes turn back to blue. He doesn't even try to ignore the feeling of immense relief that sweeps through him.

When she comes around, she looks at him with a confused expression, which turns into a horrified one when she looks at the sword in her hand. It intensifies when she turns her head and spots Tim and Zatanna, hurt and lying in a corner. Looking back at him, she gets off him, slowly and with a shocked look.

Right now, seeing her in this state nearly breaks his heart. Instinctively, he puts a hand out and places it on her shoulder. "I knew you could fight it." He smiles at her.

"But, I…I…" she starts saying when he softly shushes her.

"It's over now." He tells her. "The nightmare is over."

"I almost hurt you…" she says, eyes refusing to fill up with tears.

"It wasn't your fault." He says. "Let's get those people who did that to you." He stands up and looks around. Surprisingly, the place is deserted except for him, Skylar, Tim and Zatanna.

"They escaped." Tim tells him as Zatanna tends to his gash. "We couldn't stop him anyway."

"Then I guess all we can do is simply go home and forget this ever happened." Dick turns to Skylar, who was rubbing her arms and avoiding his eyes.

"At least it's all over." Zatanna says.

"Let's hope so."

* * *

**A/N: Hope you guys liked this chapter. Sorry I didn't update it. I have exams coming up in about a week.**

**Please review.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Warning. Super fluff and angst in this chapter!**

**I'll admit, I've been planning this particular chapter for a while now. Now, it's finally here!**

* * *

Chapter 11

* * *

The second she got back, she simply had walked into her room and shut the entire Team out. She didn't even come out when Diana tried to make her come home. She just sat in there, doing unknown things. Although, once in a while he would hear a small sob or two from in there.

"It's been five days, Dick." Tim says with concern in his voice.

"I know." Dick replies. He eyes the bandage Tim had to wear on his arm for the next month. Yep, there really was poison on that sword.

"Don't you think we should try to bring her out?" Tim asks.

Dick shakes his head. "Give her time." He says. "She's just been brainwashed and almost forced to kill her friends. Even _I'd_ isolate myself if I were her."

Tim nods understandingly, and then realizes something. "You know, you seem pretty sure of yourself when you vouch for her like that." He points out.

Dick looks down. "I just...think that's what I'd do in her place."

"That's why I think you'll be the perfect choice to get her out of her room." Tim says. "She really does look up to you. Maybe you can persuade her to open up a little more."

"Maybe I can."

* * *

He walks along the corridor, which was built in after the Cave was blown up. Of course he still feels guilt over that. It was actually then when he learnt that he wasn't the only person who could make a difference, and he didn't have to go to those extremes. That was why the Team had been formed.

As he walks, he not only reminisces about the times back then, but also starts thinking about what he wanted to say to her.

He had to be soft, considering, and extremely open from the start. He can imagine the pain she would be going through right now. She had seemed so horrified when she came around and found that she was seconds from ending his life. He himself had been very afraid, something he wasn't accustomed to in his entire life. The very thought that he almost came to never waking up again, scared him, really. And by his student, that drew the line.

He reaches her door and stops, thinking over the words.

He raises his fist and knocks three times on the dry grey door. When nothing happens, he knocks again, hoping for something better. When nothing else happens, he feels a feeling inside himself start to rise. He's never really felt this before. The only time, well…was the night his parents died, the one night he was filled with real fear, not only for himself, but for someone else as well. He tries the door again, only to hear a soft scuffling sound from the other side of the door.

"Go away!" a strained voice calls out.

That almost rips his heart out, hearing her sound like that. It was just simply torture. She wasn't meant to be like this. He can almost imagine her right now, on the floor of her room with her back to the wall, legs pressed up to her chest. He shakes his head, wondering how he could know that so quickly.

"It's me, Skylar." He softly says.

"Go away!" she repeats.

He takes in a deep breath. "I just want to talk." He tells her.

"Leave me alone!" her voice sounded like a chalk being dragged across a blackboard. He hated how that sounded.

"I'm just trying to help." He calls. "Just…let me in. I can help you."

He can hear a slight scuffling sound. "I don't need any help."

He sighs. There wasn't much a guy can do anymore than this. He tried his best, like with any other new recruit. But why was he feeling he could help her more?

He pushes his hands into the pockets of his jeans, staring at the ground for a few moments and then throwing his head back in exhaustion. He lets out a soft groan, loud enough for him to hear, but not enough for her to hear it. He puts a knuckle to the door, ready to knock again when he realizes that he could just break in and comfort her. She was shunning him away because she was the one who almost killed him. That puts a lot of strain on a young heart like hers. But, before he can knock, he stops. He doesn't know why, like he's been feeling lately, he wants her to come out _to_ him, not the other way around. He gives a heavy sigh again, getting ready to leave, but he leans against the door for a moment.

"Skylar, if you ever need to talk…you know where to find me." He softly says. "I'm not going anywhere."

Saying so, he walks away, his final words still ringing in his head.

* * *

"Any luck?" Tim asks hopefully. His face drops when Dick shakes his head.

"No such thing." Dick informs. "She's still extremely scared."

"So, nothing?" Tim asks.

"Well, I did tell her that I'd be here for her." Dick admits.

Tim nods. The teen takes another sip of his juice. Dick's eyes rest on the bandage wrapped around his arm. He doesn't know what's worse, seeing Tim hurt like this, or having Skylar not even open the door for him. He runs a hand through his hair and groans.

"Something wrong?" Tim asks.

Dick shakes his head. "Nothing. Just…thinking."

Tim opens his mouth to inquire about it when they hear footsteps coming up. Dick turns his head to see Jaime and La'gaan walking up to them. Jaime's face has genuine concern but La'gaan still looks like he couldn't care less. It doesn't even take words for Dick to know why Jaime's here. He also suspects that La'gaan was dragged along. Dick thinks that La'gaan wouldn't have cared less whether she died or lived. It wasn't natural, but La'gaan's attitude was degrading since he and M'gann broke up and she got back with Conner.

"How is…?" Jaime starts but Dick cuts in.

"Not very good." He says. "She still won't come out of her room."

Jaime looks down. Dick throws him a sympathetic glance as Dick knows Jaime feels responsible even though Tim was the team leader at that time. He can only imagine how Tim must be feeling, issuing her a solo stakeout on her first mission and to have her almost kill him, it takes a lot out of a guy.

"She's just too traumatized." Tim explains.

"What does it matter whether she's fine or not?" La'gaan growls.

Dick turns to him, feeling a feeling he felt only around Tim or Cassie, protectiveness. He's getting pretty pissed off with La'gaan right now. What right did he have to say that about her? She was only a young girl! He opens his mouth to argue and set the Atlantean in his place when Tim beats him to it.

"Better watch that mouth, Lagoon Boy." Tim growls, his voice dripping with protectiveness.

"My question still stands." La'gaan retaliates.

"Don't talk about Wonder Girl that way." Jaime protests.

"She's nervous, insecure, and wasn't even meant to be a part of this Team." La'gaan says.

"You're crossing it, La'gaan." Dick warns.

"She's only just another recruit." La'gaan says, raising his voice. "The world is swarming with them. It won't matter if she went missing or even died. We could simply replace her with the next wannabe vigilante that crosses our paths."

Dick stands up, feeling the anger being emitted from the other two boys in the same room. But before he can say anything, Tim gives a strangled "Oh". Dick turns around to see why when his blood almost runs cold. Standing right there was a young teenage girl.

Skylar's standing there, in civvies in any other color other than black. She's wearing her gold loop earrings again as Tim had given them back to her when she got back. But what he's focused right now on is the look of pure horror on her face. Her breathing id definitely chocked from being in her room all these days, but it seems more strangled as she stares at the four of them. At that point, Dick knows that she's heard every word that came out of La'gaan's big mouth.

"Sky…" Tim started to say her name.

Shaking her head slightly as she holds eye contact with Dick for a mere fraction of a second, she turns around and runs. In that fraction, Dick could see the fear and disbelief in her body. He can imagine what she must be going through, to be told that he'd be there for her, and to hear such things come out of her own teammate's mouth, it was horrible. He looks back and sees Jaime and Tim shooting death glares at La'gaan, who simply stood there unfazed.

"You…total…_mamon_!" Jaime yells out.

Tim glares at him as well. "You just had to say that, didn't you?" he yells. "She just comes out and now you've scared her away again."

La'gaan simply shrugged. Dick feels the anger welling up in him. "That's the last straw, Lagoon Boy." He growls. "This calls for a suspension." La'gaan throws him an indifferent look and storms off.

Tim sighs. "I'll go find her…"

Dick puts a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "No, I'll go. I think I know where she might be."

* * *

He finds her, right where he thought she'd be.

The waves crashed on the rocks below, making a beautiful scene. He bites his lip, staring at her from behind. She's sitting on the ground, knees pressed to her chest and body shaking. He can see her chest's rise and fall rhythm was completely off, at times showing a sob or two. She looked so sorry; he knew he couldn't sit here and do nothing. As he slowly approaches, he can see a small tear slip down her face and fall off her chin.

This was the last straw.

He walks up behind her, making sure to be quiet. He immediately notices her body getting stiffened and straightened, like she suddenly knew he was there.

He lets her know.

"Go away." She chokes out.

He doesn't. But he walks over to her and stands behind her, towering over her. She turns back, disbelief and sadness evident in her eyes. She was so fragile that he could read her like a book right now. He knew what she was thinking, what she had been doing, and how she didn't trust him anymore.

"That wasn't me." He tells her. "That was La'gaan."

"I don't care." She growls.

"He's been suspended." He informs her, pushing compassion into his voice. He goes down on one knee so that he was at her eye level. "He won't hurt you anymore."

"But what does it matter?" she asks, voice dripping with venom. "I'm _just another recruit_. I'm easily replaceable. That's why I became Wonder Girl, isn't it?" It nearly tears out his heart to hear her say that.

"No." he firmly tells her. "You became wonder Girl because you earned it. You spent years training for it. You earned it."

She glares at him. When she thinks he doesn't notice, she balls her hands into fists and keeps them at her sides. He gets to his feet, offering her his hand, which she skeptically eyes. She ignores it and gets to her feet on her own. He looks at her for a few moments, hoping that she'll finally open up to him.

"Don't worry." She says in a low voice. "I know I'm worthless."

She throws a fist at him, which he easily sidesteps. She tries to take his legs out from under him when he counters that attack, using a move and had her pushed back. She glares at him, anger evident in her eyes. She throws another punch, which he catches, despite her incredible strength and twists it down. Desperate, she uses her other hand, only to have him catch it in the same way and pin it down, rendering her practically helpless.

At that feeling of helplessness, she bursts into tears, but he's right there for her.

He pulls her to his body, watching as she went to her knees and does the same. Wrapping his arms around her, he guides her face to his body, comforting her. As she sobbed uncontrollably into him, he slowly stroked her hair, trying to help her. He presses his lips to her head for the fraction of a second (even though he has no idea why he did that) and rests his chin on her head. Soon, the sobs died down into whimpers, slow and weak whimpers.

"Shhh, _Vrabia_." He whispers to her. "Everything will be alright."

* * *

**A/N: Okay, now that's outta my head, I can sleep peacefully. Hope you guys liked the chapter. Sorry to all you La'gaan fans out there. I just imagine that he'd get pretty grumpy after his breakup with M'gann.**

**Please review. **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews guys :)**

**They really keep me writing.**

**This chapter deals with the issue of bullying. Even though I've never experienced it (I never gave anyone that opportunity), I've seen it in so many ways throughout my life. It's not cool to treat someone like crap just because he's better than you. People commit suicide because of bullying. It's definitely not cool. I've always harbored strong feelings towards bullying. Many of my own friends have been bullied badly. Honestly, it makes me sick. Well, bullies are just big cowards, as I've found out.**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter, and do all you can to stop bullying. You might be saving a life in this process.**

* * *

Chapter 12

* * *

It was clear since then that the only person she really trusted was Dick. They had grown extremely close since he comforted her a week ago.

And really, everyone could see it.

She went to him for everything, to ask for his advice, and sometimes even for help on her homework. He'd sit down beside her, look over her shoulder, and explain it to her in such a way that she'd always come out with straight As in her classes. Also, whenever she wanted some help with Shiloh (who was growing up pretty fast), she'd call in Dick. He was always her first choice for anything, ranging from home to crime-fighting. She really looked up to him.

And Diana really didn't enjoy that.

"So, that's it?" Dick asks, his back turned to her.

Diana folds her arms. "Don't lie to me, Dick." She growls. "What did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything." He says. "I only comforted her when she was broken. It's the normal thing for a team leader to do."

"I told you to stay away from her, Grayson." Diana snarls. "That's exactly what you didn't do."

Dick shakes his head, laughing slightly. "Diana, if you don't want me to interact with her at all, then why did you make her join the Team?"

She's speechless.

* * *

One thing he notices about her is the few light blue bruises on her arms. Well, she had practically just come back from her "little trip" to the League of Assassin's headquarters. He still doesn't know what exactly they did to her, but he figures that she was bruised then.

Although, he never remembers seeing those bruises before.

"What's up with those marks?" Tim whispers to him as he supervises her sparring session with Conner.

He shrugs. "I'm not sure, Tim." He admits. "Were they there when we brought her back from the League of Assassin's headquarters?"

Tim narrows his eyes at the markings. "I'm not sure. I was actually busy trying to not pass out."

Dick observes as she very subtly flinches when Conner throws a punch at her and she hits the ground to avoid the punch. "I'll talk to her later." Dick decides.

"That was really good." Conner appreciates, giving her his hand as the computer announces her failure. "Next time, just don't react."

She nods in understanding. "I will, Conner."

He smiles at her and then turns his head as Wolf gives out a huge array of barks. Sighing, the Boy of Steel walks away to get his wolf under control. She watches as Conner drags Wolf away from lashing out at Gar, because Gar had taken the liberty of transforming into a wolf, which set off Wolf's instincts.

Dick walks up behind her. She's vaguely aware of the fact, but still focuses on the battle for dominance going on in front of her. Dick places a hand on her shoulder and she turns around to look at him.

"Meet me here in one hour." He tells her.

"Why?" she asks.

"We need to talk."

* * *

"You're getting sloppy, Skylar." He tells her.

She unconsciously nods, eyes still fixated on the ground and anywhere, except at him. He wonders why this is so and almost asks her why immediately, but he restrains himself from blurting it out. Sighing, he goes back to telling her everything he noticed, everything that he taught her that were faltering.

"Any reason for that?" he asks her.

She shakes her head. "Nothing. Nothing important."

"You sure?" he asks. He sighs when she shakes her head again. He watches as she turns around and sits down on one of the benches. He follows her and sits down right beside her. She just sits there, in her costume and stares at the ground. He eyes at the marks on her arm (which he's pretty sure are bruises) that are turning a deep purple. She locks her fingers together, opening her mouth to say something, but closes it again. Softly, he leans forward. "You know you can tell me anything, right?" he asks.

She nods, biting her lip. "So, tell me." He says. She looks at him. "You won't tell anyone, will you?" she asks. "Not even Alex."

"Your secret will be safe with me." He assures her. "Now, spill."

She anxiously tapped, contemplating what to say. He waits patiently for her. If he wants to help her at all, it needs to be at her pace. They stay that way for a few minutes, just enjoying the calm silence. Suddenly, something unexpected happens.

"Have you ever felt like you weren't good enough?" she asks him.

Okay, he totally wasn't expecting this.

Still, she asked him a question. She was confiding in him. That was a good sign, wasn't it? He tries to think about what to say to her, as he knows that she's extremely sensitive. As he thinks, that feeling rises again. The feeling he used to feel all the time in school, until he turned sixteen and got a huge self-esteem push. Still, he remembers feeling that way, like he wasn't good enough. People would always talk behind his back; call him a circus freak or a charity case or whatever name made him feel worse.

"Yeah," he tells her, "all the time when I was in school."

"All the time?" she asks.

"Well, until eleventh grade, at least." He admits. "It was when I decided to become Nightwing. It honestly helped me a lot."

She smiles. He looks at her. "So, any reason for the sudden curiosity in my life?" he asks her.

"Would you believe it if I told you that although I'm considered 'powerful' here, I'm just a freak in my high school?" she asks.

So, that was what was bothering her! "Are you being bullied?" he asks her, being straightforward.

She nods. "It's actually the popular girls at school. They give me a hard time just because I was homeschooled and only have about three friends." She says.

"Are they the reason for these?" he asks, putting a hand on her arm and smoothing the pad of his thumb over a few bruises.

She nods again. "Sometimes they'll trip me up on purpose so I fall hard. If they don't do that, they make sure to push me into the lockers before they leave." She blurts out.

Strangely, he feels the huge feeling of over protectiveness well up inside him. Those popular girls were now harassing his obedient little girl; they'd pay the price. And he would make sure of that. Suddenly, a thought strikes him. "Don't you ever defend yourself?" he asks her.

She shakes her head. "If they knew who I really was, I'd lose everything. Sure they'd stay away from me, but they'd use that to ruin my social life forever." She says. "It's bad enough that no one wants to be my friend and I only have about three. If I showed those jerks my true strength, I'd lose even those three friends. Don't get me wrong, I actually spend my nights thinking about what I could do to them if there wasn't this whole 'secret identity' thing."

By this time, tears are now running down her cheeks as she pours her heart out to him. Putting an arm around her, he pulls her closer to him. "And now how do you feel?" he whispers. "Now that everything is out in the open, it feels better, doesn't it?" She nods.

"Can I tell you something?" he asks. "I had to deal with my own bullies back in ninth grade too. I couldn't do anything to them, as any move would risk my identity as Robin, and I couldn't even defend myself. I was a pretty scrawny kid back then."

"_You_?" she asks. "_You_ were scrawny?"

He nods. "Yep, I was about half the size I am now."

"Then what did you do?" she asks.

"You know what I did? I beat them at their own game." He says. "How?" she asks. "I joined the basketball team." He simply says.

"You were on the basketball team?" she asks, surprised.

He nodded. "After getting me on the team, Gotham Academy won four years in a row." Her eyes widen. "_Wow_." He nods, grinning. "Yeah, that was the confidence booster I needed. After the first game our school won, I wasn't just the son of a millionaire, but I was also the guy who won GA their first game after almost ten years."

"That's…just…overwhelming." She says quietly.

"Don't worry about that yet. Stay whelmed." She laughs at his wordplay. "Just, find the place where you belong. A place that'll give you the self-esteem you need; a place that'll give you the courage to stand up to those popular girls."

"But what if I can't?" she asks. "These girls pick on everybody. If someone tries to stand up to them, they spread awful rumors about them and practically break them into pieces." The self-doubt creeps back into her eyes once again. "I know people, Dick, people who _have_ tried to stand up to them. Within days they were reduced to nothing, being sneered at by everybody and are now sitting at the back of the class and hope that no one sees them."

"That bad, huh?" Dick asks. She nods and an idea pops into his head. "Tell you what. I'll be around in Keystone for a business trip next week. Maybe I can help out."

"How?" she asked, not believing it.

"Don't worry, I'll think of something."

* * *

Biting her lip to keep from crying out due to the pain, she walks up to her door. She may have superhuman powers, but that didn't mean that she was invulnerable. She still felt pain, sometimes a bit more than the others.

She's just finished school, and she thinks that Lindsey _knew_ that she'd gone to Dick. Despite her prettier exterior and wrong attitude, Lindsey fangirled over the Wayne family, just like most of the girls at school. Honestly, it makes her sick. Every day, she has to hear about how Dick Grayson is just _so_ hot, or how Tim Drake is just _so_ adorable. She just wishes to have at least one day in school where she didn't have to hear about all the horrible prejudices centered on her teacher and best friend.

Seriously, she entered school, and just _happened_ to run into Lindsey. The blond girl had been busy obsessing over Dick Grayson coming to town that she actually forgot to be a jerk to her. But during lunch, Lindsey took special care to call in the football team just as Skylar was near her locker, getting her books out. That earned her a brand new bruise on her collarbone, surprisingly. She's actually thankful that the v-neck shirt she's wearing covers her collarbone.

Taking a deep breath and faking a smile on her face, she opens the door and steps inside. "Diana, I'm…" she starts to call out, imagining seeing Diana on the couch, reading a magazine, when she gets the surprise of her life.

He's standing right there, in the middle of her living room. He's still wearing a grey suit and a red tie, so she can imagine that his meeting got over very recently. Of all the places she thought she'd see him today, she never thought she'd see him in her living room, that classic smirk on his face as her face erupts into a big smile and she rushes at him.

"DICK!"

* * *

The day actually went pretty well, if he could say so.

He finished his business meeting early and even managed to get a new investor for Wayne Enterprises. After wrapping up early, he decided to go and visit Skylar. Unfortunately, only Diana was home, and she had been preparing to go out herself. So, he offered to watch her for the day. Even though she threatened him for a while, she eventually caved and let him welcome her home after school. When she got home, he did the only thing he could do; he took her out to get dinner as well as to the dog park to walk Shiloh.

He reflects upon the highlights of the day as he waits on a rooftop for something to happen. Just as he almost gives up hope, a scream draws his attention.

He follows the scream to an alley where a young girl, about fourteen years of age, was being backed into a corner by a thug. Relieved for the energy outlet, he swings in and delivers a kick to the thug's face. Just as the thug pulls out a gun, he knocks it out of his hand with just a kick. Then, smacking him upside the head with a roundhouse kick, he handcuffs the unconscious thug and lays him out on the sidewalk for the police to discover.

He then turns to the girl, who's now gotten over the fear and is practically now staring at his abs. "Are you okay?" he asks. She nods. "I'm _way_ better than okay." She says in a coy voice. He rolls his eyes as he quickly looks her over. She's wearing the type of clothes that a popular girl at a high school would wear and she definitely has more makeup than needed. Her description actually matches something that Skylar told him.

"Are you Lindsey Scott?" he asks.

"I'm surprised you know my name." she says, in that same irritating voice. If she was trying to hit on him, then she was making a mistake.

"Then, I hope you'll never bother the other kids at your school again." He says, his voice switching.

"Why?" she proudly asks. "My dad's on the board."

"Because I guess you wouldn't want something to happen to you at night, would you?" he dangerously asks, making sure that she knows he means business.

"What do you mean?" she stammers, fear in her eyes.

"If you ever even think about embarrassing some girl or boy because they're different, I will haunt you. I'll make sure you regret that decision the rest of your life. Your father may be on the board, but he's definitely not the master in his house. So, let me warn you once more: you think about treating someone like crap, you get the same treatment from me. Understand?"

When she quickly nods her head in absolute terror, he shoots a grappling hook into the sky and swings away. He feels at peace. Maybe it's because he knows he promised Skylar he would do something, and he did. But then another thought crosses his mind; why did he care _so_ much about her?

* * *

**A/N: There you have it, guys. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I was penning down an idea for a small six part series that I'll publish after this story's over. And how do you guys like the story? Should I keep writing, or finish it off in the next two chapters? Can I have at least six reviews for this chapter?**

**Please read and review.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, guys. Hope you guys are enjoying this story, and sorry for the late update. Exams take up a lot of your free time.**

**And I've also been addicted to Dog Whisperer and Dogs 101. I gotta say, Cesar Millan is now one of my role-models. I've never had dogs, but with his techniques, I hope I can persuade my parents to get me one. And also, Dogs 101 has been immensely educational in ways that are unimaginable. **

**Just before I start, this chapter is just a quick bonding chapter. The story resumes from the next chapter. And also, according to me, I've always viewed Ace as a Great Dane-German Shepherd-Rottweiler-Pit bull mix. A lot of breeds, I know, but I've always seen him as having all those breeds in him. It may be my imagination, but in my story, I'm keeping him a Great Dane mix of all these breeds (and I imagine he's at least 7 feet tall on his hind legs.) **

**Well, anyway. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 13

* * *

It was official; Dick and Tim were now her surrogate brothers.

They were her first choices for anything, ranging from problems to help. They were her go-to guys, the ones who would always bail her out.

She likes it.

She's at the Cave right now, Shiloh (now a four-month-old puppy) sitting beside her on the couch. It's pretty surprising that Dick let her on the couch since he never even allowed Ace or even Wolf on the couch before. She thinks that since the very first time she introduced the puppy to him, he developed a soft spot for her and is a bit more lenient with the golden dog. Wolf is sitting down on the ground, occasionally casting a glance towards the puppy, which charmed everybody when she walked through the zeta beam for the very first time.

Tim is a totally different story.

Feeling sorry for the last time she saw a dog (the experience that fell into chaos); he tried to make it up to her in a different way. A subtle dog lover himself, he didn't want her love of dogs to be stained by the horrible experience she's had. So, what did he do? He helped her in a different way.

He got her addicted to this thing on YouTube called "Dogs 101".

He started by showing her a documentary they made of golden retrievers. Honestly, she can say she learnt so much more about her own dog than she ever knew. Even though Tim assured her that each dog had its own personality, she began to put in a bit of the knowledge shown in that video as she trained Shiloh. After that video, she was hooked. Whenever she had free time, she's pull out her phone and look up more videos on dogs.

After that, Tim had the brilliant idea of introducing her to a show called "Dog Whisperer" that dealt with complex problems that a dog could develop. It was not only his most ridiculous and impulsive idea, but also his greatest one. During their "downtime", she'd tell him about what happened in the episode she had recently seen. As he could observe, she had also been putting in the techniques shown in that show with Shiloh and her training.

He really doesn't get the whole idea of "calm-assertive" energy, but he feels like it's something he could use with Ace. It's certainly the reason the massive dog accepted Skylar ten times faster than he accepted Tim.

Another thing that became a part of their routine was a visit to the dog park every Sunday, whether it was in Keystone, Gotham or Happy Harbor. She was initially surprised that Gotham was filled with dog parks, but he did assure her that even though Gotham was crime-ridden, it didn't mean people didn't care for their dogs any less than they cared for them in any other part of the country.

Dick, noticing that she had a special way around dogs, eventually convinced Bruce to sponsor her school that had been introducing a program that allowed the students to handle the dogs and train them in different skills. Just as he expected from the stories she told him, all the popular girls gravitated towards the cuter and smaller dogs and the other kids picked up the dogs with calm temperament, which left a few kids to handle the more difficult breeds including high-energy German Shepherds and misunderstood Pit bulls.

Skylar was one of those kids, along with Alex.

"Tim, put down the phone and come on!" Dick tells him.

The teenager jumps up and quickly puts his cell phone away, his face a bit red from being caught watching the very same thing that he got Skylar addicted to. Dick sighs.

"Which one this time?" Dick asks.

"Border collie." Tim says in a low voice.

Dick grins and punches his brother's shoulder playfully. "Come on, we're gonna be late to pick up Skylar if we don't hurry."

"Did she ask you to?" Tim counters. Dick raises an eyebrow at his brother, who closes his mouth, muttering, "I'll get my jacket" under his breath.

* * *

She holds down the huge black-and-tan dog she's working with, her fingers around his black collar as she checks her watch to keep a time. The dog is just as focused on the obstacle course in front of him. She keeps a calm mind as she keeps the dog's excitement level low, yet focused. If he gets through this course, then all the work she's been doing with him for the past two weeks will finally pay off. She's been training him for being in agility contests; they even have a family ready to adopt him. The only thing they need to verify is his instinct for such things.

Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Lindsey coddling and smooching at a white Pomeranian puppy that was due for adoption three days ago. The blond girl, turning to her, shoots her an arrogant look before going back to cooing at the toy dog. Rolling her eyes, she turns back to her own dog. Lindsey could kill that dog for all she cared; at least the dog was going to responsible owners. She's going to make sure that the family who adopts her dog is satisfied with the outstanding results.

"Okay…steady…" she says, loosening her grip slightly on the dog's collar, "NOW!"

At that shout, the young German shepherd tears through the lawn, going straight for the hoops. She gets to her feet, watching as he agilely leaps through them in huge bounds and heads towards the erected poles. Digging into his training, he zigzags his way through the poles, not even making one drop. He then runs towards the elevated hill-like structure that she has absolutely no idea what it's called. Running up and then down the other side, the dog turns around, running up to her and sitting down, waiting for her praise.

"Good boy!" she praises him, feeding him a small treat. "Your new family is going to love you." She rubs his ears and he gives a happy bark. She continues stroking him as she turns her head and catches Alex's eye, whose busy working with his newly acquired Presa Canario. He nods and then goes back to getting his dog to give him a handshake.

Smiling, she turns back to her dog. Honestly, she's going to miss him. Even though she loves Shiloh, it's not every day you get to work with such athletic dogs like him.

"You did good work with him." A voice behind her says.

She turns around and then tries to keep her face from smiling too hard. "Dick! Tim! What're you two doing here?"

"Can't a guy visit his best friend?" Tim grins as he gives her a hug.

"No, but you didn't have to." She tells them. "I get off in like five minutes; I was heading to the Cave at once."

"We came to pick you up." Dick laughs.

"Why?" she asks. Tim shrugs. "Well, that's really amazing of you guys." She smiles.

Only then do the two guys notice the huge dog waiting patiently beside Shiloh at her side. "Is this the dog you're training?" Tim asks, petting him.

She nods. "His name's Casey." She tells them. "He's been trained to compete in agility contests." Dick nods as Casey pads over to him and sniffs him. After sniffing Dick's fingers, the big dog pushes his nose under his fingers. Unconsciously, Dick strokes his head, eliciting a low bark from Casey, from which he draws back.

Skylar grins. "He's had a problem with human aggression." She explains. "The spot you touched; he's still a bit sensitive over there. It'll take him some time to totally relax in a stranger's presence, but he seems to like you, so that's a plus."

"I hope so." Dick says, laughing along with them. "That dog just nearly took my fingers off!"

"That's actually a problem with a few dogs here." She explains, her expression changing as she turns around and watches all other powerful breeds training. "We've done our best to help them out, but honestly, Lindsey and her friends aren't helping."

That's all he needed to know.

* * *

"I'm really gonna miss you," she rubs Casey's ears as she says goodbye to him.

He gives a tiny woof, as if he knows that he's going to a brand new family and that he'll never see her again. She really bonded with him, and actually asked Diana if she could keep him, but was turned down. Well, at least he's going to an amazing family. She knows he's gonna love it there.

She stands up as she watches the new owner take him away. Taking a deep breath, she stands her ground for the next few moments, when Alex walks up to her.

"It's hard when they're finally adopted, isn't it?" he softly asks. She nods.

"But, I'm not worried." She tells him. "He's found a good home. That's all I need to hear."

"Good thing you've had the same success." He says. "It's hard finding people who want to adopt a Presa and actually work to keep him balanced."

"But you did find one for him, didn't you?" he nods.

A loud bark (a very familiar one) makes them both turn around. What they see makes them both gasp.

Standing on the field is one huge grey and white Alaskan malamute. She'd know the breed anywhere since Tim first showed them to her. But this one wasn't like the nice ones she's seen in her neighborhood and the ones she saw in Alaska. This one was strike, poised and ready to attack. The hair on the back of his neck was up and his lips were curled upward, revealing a huge set of teeth. She knows that one bite from those teeth could be very bad if he sank his teeth in. And the very strange thing is that he's trying to get at Lindsey, who was stepping back, with extreme fear in her eyes as she holds a tiny Bichon frise.

The one thing that surprises her is that his handler is not doing anything. The dog's on a leash, but the handler's grip was slackening. Curious, she and Alex move down a bit closer, and that's when they realize that the handler was Sarah, a girl who was repeatedly picked on by Lindsey. This time, it looked like the popular girl's teasing and humiliation finally ticked her off, and she was setting her huge malamute on her.

Well, not entirely setting the dog them, she was just going to stand back as the dog ripped the other girl to shreds.

"What did you do this time?" Skylar mutters, pushing past the small crowd that had already gathered.

The two of them push to the front of the gathering crowd, and are horrified. Sarah's lip has a slight bleed in it. She can only assume that Lindsey went a bit too far and slapped her. She can't blame the dog, who probably is just acting out of protectiveness. But she knows that if he isn't stopped soon, the consequences would be dire.

"Sarah, call back the dog!" she calls.

Sarah looks at her and simply shakes her head. "She deserves it." She softly says.

"But not like this!" Alex yells. "Call the dog back!"

Sarah shakes her head, tears dotting her eyelashes when she blinks, and then running down her face, her grip loosening even more. The huge dog strains more on the leash, trying to get at Lindsey, who looks like she might faint.

When the dog breaks away, that's when they both step in.

They work like a well-oiled team, with her grabbing the leash and holding the dog back for a second before he comes in and holds it with her. It takes both of them to hold the malamute back. She knows for sure that she's experienced how powerful this breed can be, and is now realizing why they're used to pull sleds in Alaska. This is one powerful dog. He flails about, trying to get away from the grip, but they have him secured. But things go a little awry when he turns on them.

She didn't even see it coming.

He simply turned around, jumped up and bit her. Luckily, she pulled back so the teeth didn't sink in. But Alex separates from her side and manages to loop the leash around the dog's neck, but not before getting a snout in his arm. The two of them hold him away from themselves and the rest of the crowd while they wait for him to calm down. While her ears are filled with his barks, she also hears a car pulling up and just knows that Dick and Wally are here.

It takes a while, but they manage to bring him to the ground, with Alex holding his face to the ground with his hand at his neck. At first, he barked and tried to nip at his hand, but calmed down within a minute. They're both panting hard right now. Just then, she hears the crowd parting and before she knows it, Dick and Wally are at their sides.

"You okay?" Dick asks, genuine concern in his voice.

She nods. "Can't believe it actually worked." She softly tells him.

He smiles at her, but that fades away when he notices her ripped sleeves and jeans. He puts a hand on her arm and turns it over to see a whole horde of cuts and bleedings. That's when he also notices that she and Alex are covered in them.

"You're bleeding." He tells her in a low voice.

"That's nothing." She pants out. "Lindsey would've been even worse if we didn't step in." she glares at the other girl, who's still staring at the huge dog.

Then, she promptly faints.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you guys like this chapter. I had this idea in my head for a while, and I just needed to get it out. **

**The next real chapter will be chapter 14.**

**Please review.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: And now back to our regularly scheduled story…**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 14

* * *

"You sure you're okay?" Dick asks her once again. "I mean, that dog was really huge…"

"I'm fine, Dick." She rolls her eyes, wincing slightly as he places the cotton swab on one of her cuts. "And he wasn't _that_ huge. Not as huge as Ace, anyway."

"Don't bring Ace into this." He says. "I saw what you did. If you didn't have Alex with you, who could imagine what that dog would've done to you."

Sighing, she tries to get off the bed, but he places a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. "You're staying right here." He tells her.

"But…"

"No buts." The tone of his voice is enough for her to know that he means business. "You're staying the night here."

Grumpily, she brings her knees to her chest. "You're not my dad." She grumbles.

Somehow, that sounds so familiar…

* * *

"How is she?" Tim asks, looking up from his homework.

"She's fine." Dick answers. "She's just…resting."

Tim puts his pen down. "What happened?"

Dick sits down on the stool next to his brother. Not making any eye contact, he simply looks forward, a distant look in his eyes. "I told her that she's staying here tonight, 'cause she's more badly beaten up than Alex." He explains. "When I told her that, she said, 'You're not my dad.'" He admits.

Tim's eyes widen. "Just like you told Bruce when he made you stay in the Batcave after a pretty destroying mission." He says, realizing.

Dick nods. "I have no idea why, but I'm have a feeling she's not telling us everything."

"So, what do you suggest?" Tim asks.

"I suggest we take a closer look into her past."

* * *

Grumbling under her breath, she lies down with her head against the pillow. Little Shiloh pokes her head under her arm as she scrambles up onto the bed. When she ignores her, the puppy then tries doing everything she can to get her attention, ranging from barking to licking her face. Eventually, she gives in and gets up, picking the puppy up and looking into the pup's eyes.

"You are one tough cookie." She tells the pup, who barks in response.

She suddenly feels the room go colder for some reason. Recognizing the familiar chill, she wraps her legs around herself as Shiloh cuddles up against her, trying to comfort her. She slowly strokes the golden puppy as she feels the fear well up into her heart again.

Looking around, she cautiously gets off the bed, moving over to the switches so that she can turn on the light. Then, she notices a shadowy figure at the window. Definitely scared, she moves towards the window when the figure disappears. That's also when she notices another note stuck to the window.

Taking a deep breath, she opens the window cautiously and takes the note, opening it, and immediately dreading that move.

Her blue eyes quickly scan the paper, hoping for something to make her feel comfortable, but nothing. All she sees are three heart-wrenching words: _Don't tell them_.

She quickly crumples up the paper and throws it out before closing the window and locking it this time. She wants to be careful this time. Swallowing nervously, she looks down at the puppy at her feet, looking at her with a confused little expression.

She bends down to the puppy's level. "I still don't know whether you'll be able to understand me," she tells the puppy as she strokes her, "but I think they're getting closer, whoever _they_ are."

Little did she know that she wasn't alone this time…

As she picks up the puppy and walks back to the bed, setting Shiloh on the mattress, she gives one more glance to the window.

That's when he turns the monitor off.

* * *

"I still can't believe this." Barbara says, leaning over Dick's shoulder.

Dick himself is deep in thought as he stares at the black screen, something running through his mind. "There must be some reason she hasn't told us about it yet." He says. "She normally confides in us if something's troubling her."

"You mean confide in _you_?" Barbara corrects. "Don't look at me like that, Boy wonder. You know very well that no one's closer to her than you, not even Diana. She tells you everything."

"Then why didn't she tell me this?" Dick counters.

"If you two are done having your married couple's quarrel," Tim turns around, leaving both adults blushing wildly, "I've found something that you both might want to see."

As the two extremely red vigilantes walk up to Tim and peer over his shoulder at the screen, Tim begins his explanation as he hits a few keys. "I looked up her records on her school's website," he explains, "I've checked all her records, achievements and stuff, but it says here that she's been homeschooled."

"Of course she has." Barbara shrugs. "She was raised on Themyscira."

"But then why does she have such a close bond with our world?" Tim asks. "If she's been raised on an island of warriors, then shouldn't she be all 'Wonder Girl' on all of us? Instead she just fit right in."

"Like she's been here before…" Dick mutters, eyes widening behind his mask.

Tim nods. "Then, I found this about Haly's Circus." He pulls up another page as Dick raises an eyebrow. "Apparently, it was the cover for raising assassins for the Court of Owls." Dick softly nods. "I already know that, little bro. I was already attacked by my great-grandfather a year ago." He narrows his eyes as the memories resurface.

"You already did?" Tim asked, bewildered. He then nervously scratched at the back of his neck. "Some detective I am. I guess I should probably go back to researching." He sheepishly says.

"You do that." Dick says. "I'll go and talk to Diana."

Barbara suddenly straightens up, a thought crossing her mind. "Why're you so suddenly interested in knowing Skylar's background?" she asks.

"Well…because she's being stalked." Dick says, not really believing it himself. "You heard her talking to Shiloh. Someone's following her. Maybe looking into her past can give us a clue."

She folds her arms. "Dick, you and I both know you don't really believe what you just said." She says. "So, what's the real reason?"

He sighs, running a hand through his messy black hair. "I…I…I don't know! I've just been feeling this weird feeling with her. I just want to know every single thing about her," he says, "so that I'll be able to _protect_ her someday." He interjects before Tim can suggest something stupid.

"You do know that she can take care of herself, right?" Barbara counters.

"I…just…I…" he stammers. "Okay, this conversation isn't really helping." He sighs.

Barbara simply shrugs and moves back. Sighing for what seems like the umpteenth time that day; Dick turns around and starts to move towards the zeta beams. Before he can go inside, he looks up and turns back to the teenager sitting at the computer.

"Oh, and Tim?" Tim looks up from his intensive research. "_Please_ don't wreck the Cave by the time I get back. And don't kill the computer to try and find something."

* * *

Diana looks up when Dick walks through the Watchtower's zeta beams.

"Oh, it's you." She says unenthusiastically.

"Great to see you too." He answers. "Listen, I need a favor."

"And you're coming to me about it?" Diana growls.

"I just need to know something." He says.

"Whatever." She rolls her eyes.

"Look, I just need to know whether Skylar was _actually_ raised at Themyscira." He says.

"Of course she was." The older woman says, turning to him. "She grew up there."

"But are you sure she was _born_ there?" he counters.

Her eyes widen slightly and her face pulls on a look of surprise, which she immediately covers up, but as everyone knows, he's a Bat. Not many people would be able to catch that split second reaction, but he _was_ trained by the World's Greatest Detective. He folds his arms and stands his ground, determined to get it out of her.

"What're you hiding?" he asks.

"I am not hiding _anything_." She says, stubbornly, but it fails to his intense stare.

"Spill, _now_." He says.

She takes a deep breath. "Fine, I'll tell you. But just know, you are the only person I will tell this to." She growls.

"If it's some kind of secret, it'll be safe with me." He says.

"Okay, as much as I made you all believe it, Skylar was raised at Themyscira, but wasn't _born_ there." She says.

"I knew it." He mutters, but quietens down when she shoots him a glare.

"I found her thirteen years ago in an abandoned building in Gotham." She says. "The Court of Owls had been harassing some poor mother and her child and had set that building on fire. It wasn't much of a problem; just a couple of members and a Talon. I managed to drive them away, but they left behind something."

"And what's that?" he interjects.

"I'm coming to that!" she snarls. "Like I was saying, they left behind something. When they ran away, I heard something stir under a pile of debris. The building had been put out by then and everything was just a big pile of rubble and blackened ashes. I went over to a pile of burnt bricks and turned it over, and you will never believe what I found there."

"Keep talking." Dick gestures to her to continue.

"I found…a baby."

* * *

"A baby?" Dick's mouth was still hanging open.

Diana nods. "A baby girl." She elaborates. "She was around a year old, maybe a bit younger. But she was there, dirty, terrified and nervous."

"Wow." He mutters.

"I tried searching for her mother, but I was unsuccessful." She continues. "Also, I couldn't bear the thought of just leaving her at an orphanage. She was strong, and had the potential to become a great warrior. So, I did the only thing that seemed fitting."

"You took her back to Themyscira." Dick completes.

Diana nods. "I actually hoped that she'd see everyone there as role-models and take on their way of thinking, but I was wrong. She seemed a bit distant than the other girls. She would always ask me about man's world, and her greatest desire was to visit man's world and 'make her mark'." She makes air quotations with her fingers.

"You haven't told her about this?" he asks.

She shakes her head. "It might shatter her trust in everything she has believed in."

He sighs. "That doesn't help at all." He mutters.

"What did you say?" Diana asks.

"Nothing." He quickly shakes his head. "Thanks for the info, Diana. It really means a lot."

"You won't tell her, will you?" Diana asks.

He shakes his head. "No, I won't tell her." She heaves a relieved sigh.

"That's something you'll have to tell her, if you don't want her to find out and be disappointed."

* * *

**A/N: It's just getting good!**

**Please review.**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thanks so much for your reviews guys! It makes me so happy to read them.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 15

* * *

Barbara's checking up on Skylar, who was sleeping like a baby when he arrives and pulls her away in the way that makes her want to simply punch him, but when he needs to tell her something, _now_.

"_What_?" she asks, exasperated.

"I was right." He quickly says.

"What?" she asks again, this time more confused than before.

"My hunch was right." He elaborates. "Skylar wasn't born on Themyscira. She was born here."

"Here?" she asks, looking down.

"Not right here." He assures. "But she was born in our world. She was found in Gotham."

"What?" she asks, dumbfounded.

He takes a deep breath. "Diana found her in a burning building thirteen years ago." He explains. "Right around the same time as…"

"…your family's deaths." She completes.

When she says that, she can see the downtrodden look in his eyes, _even_ through the domino mask. It's been years since the accident, but she knows that everything around him reminds him of that particular day. She's tried to help him, but honestly, she still has her dad. He lost everything, _everyone_, in his life that day.

She puts a hand on his shoulder. "What connection do you think she has to that?" she asks.

"Well, there is one…" he starts, but then backs off. "No, that's impossible."

"What is?" she asks.

"I saw her die in front of my own eyes." He says. "It can't be."

"Dick!" she says, raising her voice. "What are you talking about?"

"I saw her getting snatched up." He continues to talk to himself. "It can't be her, can it?"

"Dick, what is it?" she grabs his shoulders, steadying him and looking into his eyes. He pushes her hands off a bit roughly.

"Sorry," he apologizes. "I need some air."

She watches as he takes off down the corridor.

* * *

He opens the door to her room slightly and peeks in. A smile appears on his face when he sees her sleeping soundly, her chest rising and falling in perfect rhythm to her breathing. She has the blankets up to her chest, which he gets since it's getting colder here.

He sees her stir slightly and ducks out, about to close the door when a voice stops him.

"You know you can come in anytime, right?" He stops. "I mean, you _are_ the one who put me here in the first place."

Opening the door, he sees her on her side, looking at him with drowsy eyes. He doesn't detect any sarcasm or hostility in her eyes or voice, just sleepiness. He doesn't blame her. She's had a pretty long day, and if he were her, he'd fall right to sleep too. Sighing, he goes inside and closes the door behind him, switching on the light before going over to her and sitting down on the edge of the bed. Shiloh wakes up from her spot at her feet and scrambles over to him, nosing his hands.

"Any reason for this sudden visit?" she asks, sitting up on propped up pillows. "It's almost midnight."

"Not really." He smiles at her. "Just wanted to see how you were doing." He eyes the band-aid on her cheek that she got from that dog, who had somehow managed to get to her face. His hand instinctively goes to her face, tracing the cut.

"I'm doing fine." She tells him, softly moving his hand from her face.

"Sorry." He grins, looking down. "I'm just very worried about you."

"There's no need to be." She assures him. "I'm Wonder Girl, remember?"

Unknowingly, he leans forward. "But there's no need to stay in character when I'm around, remember?" he whispers. Before he can mentally kick himself for blurting that out, and wondering how he sounded like to her, he notices her looking down.

"What if I told you that that dog really hurt me?" she softly asks.

"I would say that that's perfectly natural and you shouldn't be afraid to admit it." He says.

"But you know…" she starts to say when he cuts her off.

"I know." He tells her. "But, all dog bites hurt. I've been bitten at least ten times by Ace till now." He shrugs. She softly laughs.

He puts a hand on her back, softly rubbing it as she leans into his touch. He quickly adjusts himself so that she's facing his chest and pulls her so she's resting against his body. While she blinks and breathes, trying to block out the soft pangs of pain, he wraps his arm around her and traces imaginary patterns on her shoulder. He feels her getting heavy and knows that she's falling asleep. He adjusts the pillows once again and pulls her away from him and lays her down with her head against the pillows. Her eyes close instantly and her breathing resumes its slow rhythm. Smiling, he gets up to go back to Tim and see if he's found anything. But before he can leave, a hand grabs his and he turns around to see her looking at him, pleading with her eyes.

"Can you stay with me, just for tonight?" she softly asks.

He tries not to let his smile get any bigger. "Of course I can." He whispers. "Let me just switch off the light, and then I'll stay for as long as you want me to."

"Thanks a lot." She drowsily mutters. "You're the best, you know that?"

Now where did he hear that before?

* * *

Barbara grinds her teeth in anger as she checks another corridor, with no results. Where was Dick?

She stops outside the only door she hasn't checked till now; Skylar's room. She shrugs; it would probably be the only place he would be. Even she knew how much he cared for the fourteen-year-old. He may never admit it, but he has some kind of connection with her.

She opens the door, peeping in. She spots Dick sitting beside Skylar, who was fast asleep and breathing peacefully. He has his hand on her forehead, his fingers smoothing and playing with her bangs. She doesn't see his face due to the lights being off, but through the light that sneaked in from the small opening, she can see the adoring gaze in his blue eyes as he stares at Skylar's sleeping face. It puts a small smile on the redhead's face.

When she comes in and closes the door softly, he jerks as if snapped out of a trance and turns around, face breaking into a smirk when he sees her. "Babs…" he greets.

"It's past two." She smiles, noticing his hand still on the girl's forehead. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

He sighs. "She actually asked me to stay with her tonight." He admits, shyly.

Smiling, she walks over to him and sits down beside him, looking at the sleeping girl, and pushing a strand of hair out of her eyes as she turns in her sleep. "But you can't stay awake the whole night, can you?" she says. "_Especially_ not when you've got such a big day ahead of you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" he asks. "What's tomorrow?"

"You forgot, didn't you?" she grins. "Well, tomorrow is your birthday, Boy Wonder."

"My _what_?" he asks.

"Technically, since it's already past midnight, _today_ is your birthday." She reminds.

"Wow, I didn't even…" he begins when he notices her leaning forward a bit.

"Maybe this'll make you remember." She says softly before leaning close to his face, but is startled when he stops her. She pulls away and looks into his eyes.

"Not here." He tells her. "Not while she's sleeping." She nods, understanding.

"Well then, I'll see you in the morning then, Boy Wonder." She leans forward and plants a kiss on his cheek before standing up and walking out. She can vaguely hear Skylar stir when she closes the door, and through the door, she hears Dick shushing her and lulling her back to sleep.

* * *

"Did you know that it was Dick's birthday today?"

Alex jumps as she simply walks into the kitchen, almost making him drop the cheese in his hand from the cheese platter he made just for himself. He looks up at the black-haired girl standing in front of him. "Uh, yeah, I knew." He replies. "Didn't you?"

"I only found out from Zatanna two minutes ago." She exclaims.

"Wait, _Zatanna_ was here?" he asks. "She's rarely here."

"I know." She says. "Apparently she came to give Dick his 'birthday present.'"

"Why'd you put that in air quotations?" he points out.

She shrugs. "That was how she said it." She says.

His eyes widen slightly, not really understanding it as well. Well, give him a break! He was only fourteen, and didn't know much about girls too. And Skylar didn't actually count. Being raised on an island full of warriors doesn't really qualify you as a typical "girl" in this world.

"So, where is Dick anyway?" she asks.

It was his turn to shrug. "I think he's in Bludhaven." He says. "He did say something about having a date."

"Okay then." She says.

"Why're you looking for him, anyway?" he asks, the question popping into his mind.

"I just wanna wish him for his birthday." She says. "I can't get him a good present in such short notice, but at least I can still wish him."

"That's what I did." He nods. She nods as well, but then notices him munching on cheese. "What are you eating?" she asks.

"Cheese," He says, gesturing with one hand to the assortment of square shaped cheese slices. "I made myself a cheese platter."

"Why?" she asks.

"Just 'cause I can." He says. "Cheddar?" He holds out a yellow cheese slice.

Slightly nodding, she accepts it and bites into it. She grins slightly. "This is really good." She says. "We didn't have cheese like this back on Themyscira."

"You should try all the other types then."

* * *

He finally makes it back to the Cave at around 6 in the evening. It had been a very exhausting birthday, and all he wanted was to just relax and take it easy. The one thing that surprised him was that nothing unexpected happened on his birthday.

Don't blame him. When he turned nineteen, the Team had to thwart a _two_-alien invasion. And when he turned twenty-one, he was attacked by his great-grandfather and was told that he had to be assassinated. After _those_ experiences, he'll never take another birthday for granted ever again!

But today actually went kind of slow. As usual, he ran into Zatanna in the morning, when she gave him his usual birthday kiss. After that, on his way out, he ran into Barbara once again, who dragged him behind a door at once, sliding her lips over his passionately. After that, he bumped into Kory, an alien princess who he dated a couple of years ago. She treated him to lunch, which eventually ended up in his apartment, with him over her, of course. After that, she had flown off to save some city in Italy, and he was on his own again, until he caught the attention of one of his previous flings, Bette Kane. Surprisingly, he ended up in his apartment for the second time that day, and the only thought after that was to simply get back to the Cave, and be greeted by someone who wouldn't sleep with him or make out with him.

As he sits down in the kitchen, sipping his can of soda, he hears footsteps behind him and turns around, a smile forming on his lips when he sees Skylar standing there, looking a bit shy and unsure. He beckons her over as he pulls out another soda and hands it to her.

"So, any reason you're here today?" he asks. "It was a day off for everybody."

"Actually, I was here for something." She turns the can in her hands. "I heard it was your birthday today."

He can't stop himself from smiling. "How long have you been here?"

"A couple of hours." She shrugs. "I felt really bad about not getting you anything, so I just waited and hoped you'd come. At least I could still wish you."

"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?" he asks.

"Yeah," she gives out a small laugh. "So, happy birthday, Dick, I guess." She awkwardly says. It is immediately followed by a disheartened look that envelopes her eyes. "Pretty lame, huh? I'm guessing this was probably the worst birthday wish you've got. All your other birthday wishes must've been great."

He leans forward and takes her hand in his. "You're wrong." He tells her. "_This_, was actually the best birthday wish I could've ever asked for." He runs a finger over her knuckles. "Thank you." Then a thought crosses his mind. "So, what did you do the whole day?" he asks.

"Ate cheese." She says. He raises an eyebrow at her. "Alex brought a cheese platter." She explains.

"Well, I hope you had fun." He tells her. "It's nice to see you fitting in so well."

She opens her mouth to answer but turns her head when her phone beeps and she checks the message. She turns back to him, the look in her eyes clearly saying that she didn't want to leave. "I gotta go." He nods in understanding, but the really surprising thing only comes after that.

She turns to leave, but turns around and flings her arms around him, startling him. "Thanks for always being there for me." She mutters. Even though he can't see her face, he can still feel her smile (and he wonders whether that's supposed to mean something) before he puts his arms around her as well and gives her a tiny squeeze. "I did promise you." He mutters back, pushing his nose into a hair before drawing back a bit, surprised by his action.

She pulls away. "Well, happy birthday." She wishes him again before turning on her heel, exiting the Cave through the zeta beam.

Smiling, he finishes the last of his soda before leaning back. This was actually the best birthday ever. To think that for one day, he might celebrate without getting hung up by his duty. Yeah, he thinks he will make it an amazing birthday.

Just as he starts thinking up plans to get the family together for a movie night, his communicator starts to beep. Sighing, he pulls it out. "What?" he asks impatiently. "My day was going so good."

"Sorry to interrupt." He hears Tim's voice at the other side. "But there's a problem."

"Is it Wonder Girl?" Dick sits up, feeling a sort of dread creeping into his heart. "Is she alright?"

"Wonder girl's fine." Tim says. "It's Skylar Summers who needs your help _now_."

"What happened?" Dick asks, feeling the rise in his voice.

"The Court, Dick. The Court of Owls got to her."

* * *

**A/N: I got nothing much to say at this point. **

**So, please review.**


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